HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, Va. -- Senior Peter Smith (Warrenton) made his first career start and made 19 saves, while junior Campion White (Apex, NC) scored three goals in a 15-9 loss to nationally ranked No. 4 Christopher Newport, Saturday night at Hellmuth-Gibson Field.

"I'm extremely proud of every man in our program and the effort and energy that we played with tonight," said head coach Jason Rostan '03. "Each man gave their full hearts to their teammates and played for a greater purpose in Ben Lagow's honor. We look forward to preparing for game two with the same fight and passion next week."

The Tigers got the scoring started with just over four minutes into the game, as senior Ford Burke (Richmond) had the ball on the right side of the net and found senior Michael Leone (Vienna) cutting towards the goal for the finish. Just over a minute later, H-SC doubled its tally as senior Patrick Saunders (Alexandria) moved to his right and commanded a double team as White slipped through and got the pass firing a shot into the top left corner. The Tigers wasted no time making it three as, 37 seconds later, freshman Alex Wagner (Cary, NC) picked up the rebound off a shot from Leone and found sophomore Davis Mack (Richmond) wide open in front of the goal for the easy finish. H-SC was not done, as following a Christopher Newport goal, Leone scored again off a pass from Wagner to make it 4-1. The Captains battled back, scoring two before the quarter ended to make it 4-2 in favor of H-SC after 15 minutes.

It took just under half the second quarter before either team found the back of the net, but it was the Tigers and senior Ray O'Brien (Scituate, MA) that broke through. Wagner went around the back of the goal and found O'Brien waiting by the far post and fired a pass for O'Brien who slammed down the finish to push the lead back up to three. Christopher Newport answered strongly following the goal, closing the quarter on a five-goal run to take a 7-5 lead into halftime.

The Captains added on to start the third quarter, scoring another four unanswered to take an 11-5 lead with 5:26 left. White broke through for the Tigers with 3:46 remaining, as Saunders found White in between four defenders, he turned around and rifled a shot into the top right corner. The Tigers added one more in the third, as junior Gaines Weis (Richmond) grabbed a turnover and took it end-to-end before finding Leone who make a quick pass to O'Brien who then beat a defender and finished off the play, to cut the lead to 11-7 going into the fourth quarter.

A penalty at the end of the third quarter by Christopher Newport allowed the Tigers to start with the ball in the fourth quarter. H-SC used the extra man to their advantage, as it was Saunders once again finding White in between CNU defenders, where all he had to do was turn around and finish off the goal. With the Tigers getting the lead down to three, the Captains responded with two goals before, junior Harry Deller (Baltimore, MD) grabbed a ground ball laying down on his back and was somehow able to find Burke at the far post for a great goal. Christopher Newport responded once more with two more goals to close the scoring and bring the game to an end at 15-9.

White was the leading scorer for H-SC with three goals, while O'Brien tallied two and Leone scored two with one assist. Saunders assisted three times, with all of them being on White goals and Wagner tallied two assists.

Smith took the loss in net, making 11 of his 19 saves in the first half alone. He also accounted for five ground balls. Sophomore Tyler Steele (Pinehurst, NC) picked up eight ground balls, junior Conor Kilfeather (Wyndmoor, PA) picked up six with one caused turnover, and Weis grabbed four ground balls and caused three turnovers.

The Tigers will be back in action on Saturday, February 17, when they play host to Southern Virginia University. The game is scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. at Lewis C. Everett Stadium.