MONTCLAIR, N.J. -- Opening up the NCAA Tournament with a bang, the Christopher Newport men's soccer team wasted no time in both the first and second halves against Manhattanville (9-4-6) on Saturday night, downing the Valiants by a final score of 4-1. Jonathon Leiding got things started less than two minutes into the game and Caleb Jones buried the gamewinner less than 30 seconds into the second half as CNU used early momentum to pull away and capture an NCAA Tournament victory for the sixth consecutive postseason appearance. 

Christopher Newport improved to 11-4-2 on the season with the win and advances to face No. 5 Montclair State University in the second round on Sunday night at 7:00 p.m. 

The four-goal outburst on a neutral field in Montclair, New Jersey is tied for the second best scoring performance in program history during the NCAA Tournament and marks the most goals scored in a postseason game since the 2016 version of the Captains netted five in the opening round against Sunday evening's opponent, the Montclair State Red Hawks. Leiding led the way with two goals while Jones added one and Carson Grove put away a late insurance tally for the final score. 

Before fans could even settle into their seats, Leiding had staked the Captains to a 1-0 lead just 1:19 into the game. The senior defender knocked in his third goal of the season, but that's where the score would stay for the first 45 minutes. CNU took a 1-0 lead into halftime with only the one shot on-goal for either team. 

After intermission, the offenses looked more comfortable, combining for 19 shots including 11 on target. The first of which would come as Christopher Newport raced off the opening whistle and quickly doubled the lead on a nice pass from Trevor Smith to Caleb Jones. The sophomore scored just 29 seconds into the second half as the Captains took a 2-0 lead. 

The pressure kept coming from CNU as Mason Field had a shot saved while back-to-back attempts from Elton Quintanilla and Luke Peri were blocked by Valiant defenders. Yazan Yaghmmour added a shot on-goal in the 71st minute and Leiding followed it with his second goal of the match to give the Captains a 3-0 lead. 

Manhattanville got on the board in the 80th minute with a penalty kick to trim the lead back to two, 3-1, but it would be as close as the Valiants would get as Christopher Newport added an insurance goal in the final minute of play when Carson Grove snaked in a rebound off of Drew McWhinney's first shot. Grove scored his first career goal with the finish. 

The Captains have now advanced to the second round or better in each of head coach Justin Chezem's first four seasons. On Sunday, CNU will take on Montclair State, who enters the matchup with an 18-2-1 overall record. Live stats and video will be available at CNUsports.com.