The University of Mary Washington women's soccer team drew with Christopher Newport, 1-1, in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference championship game on Sunday afternoon in Newport News, Va., but was unable to capture the conference title after the Captains beat the Eagles in a shootout, 4-2.
UMW took control of the Sunday's championship game early as the offense came out firing with 14 shots in the first half compared to CNU's four. UMW put up the first 10 shots of the afternoon with the 10th finding the back of the net in the 20' when
Taylor Garofalo was able to find
Layla Royster in the box to put UMW up by a goal, 1-0.
In the second half, UMW continued to put the offensive pressure on the Captains as it 10 shots, while the Captains had just four in the half. But CNU was able to find the back of the net in the 75' to tie the game and send it into overtime.
During the first OT period, Royster had the best chance for a score but her attempt was blocked by a defender. In the second overtime,
Skye Lawhun put an attempt on net in the 103' but it was saved by the CNU keeper.
Emily Box had a similar chance in the 108', but her long attempt was also saved.
After a CNU free kick and attempt that was saved by keeper
Emily Orn with just under a minute to play, the Eagles had a chance to score the game-winner with 30 seconds to go as Orn threw the ball to midfielder where
Emma Braxton stood. Braxton then found
Layla Royster on the near side, who chipped it to Box near the box on the far side. Box wound up, but her hard attempt was blocked by a CNU defender to send the game into a shootout.
The Eagles made their first and fourth attempts, while missing the second and third. On the Captains side, they made all four of their shootout attempts.
For the afternoon, UMW took charge with 29 shots (12 of which were on goal), while holding CNU to 10 shots (four on goal). The Eagles were awarded eight corners, while the Captains had one.
Mary Washington will wait and see where it's headed in the 2026 NCAA Tournament during Monday's selection show, which
airs at 11:30 a.m. on NCAA.com
