LYNCHBURG, Va. -- Leading by three at halftime, the Christopher Newport women's lacrosse team pieced together an outstanding second-half effort to pull away for a 19-10 victory over Lynchburg during a non-conference battle on Saturday afternoon at Shellenberger Field.

During the contest, Meaghan Galvin paced the Captains with eight points and six goals. Erin Callahan also contributed her second straight five-goal effort, including four scores late in the second half. Catie Chess found the back of the net four times as well, while Lindsay Weaver stuffed the stat sheet with three ground balls, two caused turnovers, and an assist.

With the victory, Christopher Newport improves to 7-5 on the season. The setback drops Lynchburg to 6-5.

Showing off her scoring touch early, Galvin posted CNU's first two goals of the game, including one off a solid feed from Kylie Chaplin. Chess also found her footing quickly as the freshman blistered three goals, including a dart off a free-position attempt, during an impressive four-minute run. Unfortunately, the Hornets kept pace and remained within striking distance at 5-4.

Looking for some breathing room, Tess D'Arcy continued to do solid work and came up with her second draw control before Galvin capitalized with a rocket off an eight-meter shot to push the lead to two. However, the hosts battled back and retaliated with two straight scores to even the game at six with seven minutes remaining in the first half.

Sick of the seesaw battle, Christopher Newport began to inch away at the end of the half. First, Hanna Slough came up with a big stop to keep the game tied before her offense took over. Callahan opened up the late push with a free-position goal before Chaplin and Colleen Bourgal tacked on back-to-back daggers to steal a 9-6 lead entering the break.

Following halftime, the Hornets struck first to pull back within two, but the Captains shook off the early misstep and pieced together a back-breaking run. Galvin opened things up with two straight tallies before Chess hammered home her second free-position goal to grab a 12-7 lead. Although Lynchburg was able to respond following a timeout, CNU remained in control.

Continuing her excellent afternoon, Galvin grabbed a loose ball after an initial shot went wide and quickly snapped off her fifth goal with 19 minutes left. Shortly thereafter, following a crucial stop by Slough on an eight-meter attempt, Galvin set up back-to-back goals by Chaplin and Jen Doering to push the lead to seven entering another LC timeout.

Although the hosts had a shot to close the gap following the break, Weaver broke up a clearing attempt before dishing to Callahan, who punched in her second goal of the game. Following a Hornet tally, the sophomore continued her late surge with back-to-back scores to snatch an 18-9 lead with less than seven minutes left on the clock.

Despite another Lynchburg goal during the waning moments of the game, the Captains never lost their rhythm. Defensively, Weaver and Sam Puglisi both forced turnovers and Slough made another save to cut off any thoughts of an LC comeback. Finally, Callahan added the last nail and capped off her five-goal performance with one final strike to seal the 19-10 victory.

Overall, CNU held a 34-21 edge in shots and a 19-9 lead in ground balls. The visitors also controlled 20 of the game's 30 draws, including five by Galvin and four by Chaplin. On the defensive end, Slough finished with six saves to earn the victory.

Christopher Newport will return to action on Tuesday when the squad treks to No. 6 Salisbury for a 5 p.m. contest.

---CNU---