Third-seeded Mary Washington gained an early score and never looked back in a 3-1 victory at top-seeded Christopher Newport on Saturday night in Newport News, Va. The CAC title is UMW's ninth, which is the most in league history, and their first since 2001.

With the win, the Eagles earn the CAC's automatic bid to next week's NCAA Championship tournament. UMW will learn its fate in next week's NCAA Tournament during the selection show on Monday at 1:30 p.m. on NCAA.com

The Eagles opened the scoring at 1:54, as senior Colin Travis scored on a header off a free kick from junior Ryan Van Maanen. The score stood at 1-0 until intermission.

In the second, Van Maanen scored on an assist from Keanu Korkor at 57:56 for a key insurance tally. Christopher Newport would find the scoreboard for the first time at 69:12 to draw to within one, but the Eagles answered with an own goal at 80:14, after Idrissa Barrie's play forward was misplayed by the last line of the CNU defense.

The Captains led in shots, 16-13, as well as corner kicks, 7-4. UMW goalkeeper Matt Spencer came up huge for the Eagles, making seven saves, including several sprawling stops in the waning minutes to preserve the lead. CNU's Zach Pedini had six saves for the Captains.