BUENA VISTA, Va. -- Division III National Champion Christopher Newport swept all four major awards and placed a record-tying seven players on the 2022 Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) All-State teams announced by the organization on Tuesday. Senior midfielder Riley Cook was named Player of the Year after becoming just the second player in program history to garner first-team All-State accolades in all four years of her career. 

Also earning major awards with Cook, junior center back Jill McDonald was named Defensive Player of the Year, and sophomore Emma Ricci hauled in Co-Rookie of the Year plaudits for the Captains. Additionally, head coach Jamie Gunderson was named the VaSID State Coach of the Year after guiding Christopher Newport to the program's first ever national title. 

All three of the aforementioned major award winners garnered first team All-State accolades and were joined by senior forward Sarah Smith and senior goalkeeper Haley Eiser as first team picks. On the second team, senior midfielder Abby Harrigan and sophomore defender Nyah Savage rounded out the healthy horde of Captains selected by the Commonwealth's athletics communications professionals as the best in the state. It marks the fourth time in program history that seven players have earned a spot on the All-State teams. 

Cook is the first Captain to have earned VaSID Rookie of the Year plaudits and then go on to be named the State's Player of the Year as well. She joins Natalie Stallings ('02), Victoria Perry ('16), and Gabby Gillis ('17 & '18) as Captains to earn the top player award and Keiley McCarthy as the only other four-time first team All-State selection in program history. The most decorated CNU player of all time continues to add to her mantel with an unprecedented amount of individual awards. 

This season, Cook added National Player of the Year to her ledger as a first team All-American, All-Region, and All-Conference selection. She was the C2C Offensive Player of the Year and went on to earn the NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Offensive Player award following NCAA Tournament play. During the season, she added to her record-shattering career with 53 points on 24 goals and five assists; she finished her tenure with a program and conference record 198 points on 90 goals and 18 assists. She is the first three-time first-team All-American in program lore and is the only player in NCAA history to score five or more game-winning goals in NCAA Tournament action. 

While Cook handled the offensive side of the field, junior Jill McDonald was the centerpiece of the most dominant defense in program history on the other end. Named the NCAA Championship's Most Outstanding Defender after leading the Captains' to five shutouts in six NCAA Tournament wins, McDonald capped a year in which she was named first team All-Region and first team All-Conference. She also picked up C2C All-Tournament Team honors after the conference championship and was name to the NCAA All-Championship squad as well. 

Led by McDonald, the Captains' defense locked down opposing attacks all season long as CNU did not trail in a game since the second game of the season. That run included the third longest shutout streak in program history, that extended into the National Quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament. CNU established a number of program records including the most shutouts (16), lowest goals-against average (0.30), and highest save percentage (.908) and the back line held opponents to just 3.3 shots on-goal per game. 

Rounding out the top player accolades was newcomer Emma Ricci, playing in her first official season as a member of the Captains in 2021. A first team All-Conference selection at forward, Ricci becomes just the third CNU player to ever be named VaSID State Rookie of the Year, joining Sam Rabinek ('13) and Riley Cook ('17). A spark off the bench for Christopher Newport throughout the season, Ricci finished the year ranking third on the team in scoring with 17 points on five goals and seven assists. She assisted on the overtime gamewinner in the NCAA National Semifinals against No. 9 Loras, and led the team in shot on-goal percentage, peppering opposing goalkeepers to the tune of a .476 rate. 

Ricci will share the 2021 Rookie of the Year honor with Averett's Celia de Diego. 

Christopher Newport head coach Jamie Gunderson concluded an unforgettable first year at the helm for the Captains' women's soccer program, establishing a record that can never be broken by winning the national championship in his first year. Named the United Soccer Coaches National Coaching Staff of the Year and Regional Coaching Staff of the Year, Gunderson adds State Coach of the Year to his resume after posting an undefeated run through his first schedule. CNU finished the year 22-0-1 with program records for wins in a season, longest consecutive games without a loss, and highest national ranking. The Captains outscored their opponents, 62-7, and allowed just a single goal in the first half all season long. 

Gunderson led CNU to it's first national championship since 1998 and the 13th overall team title. In an impressive display of dominance, the Captains competed for just under 2,097 minutes of game time and trailed in ony one game for a span of only 15 minutes and 30 seconds. After capturing the C2C Championship, CNU would go on to outscore their six postseason opponents, 9-1, with a 0.166 GAA against some of the most talented offenses in the nation. 

Adding to the impressive accomplishments of the major award winners, Christopher Newport also saw four more Captains earn All-State recognition. Joining Cook, McDonald, and Ricci on the first team are Sarah Smith (F) and Haley Eiser (GK); second team selections Abby Harrigan (MF) and Nyah Savage (D) round out the seven overall picks. 

Smith was a third team All-America selection by the United Soccer Coaches and impressed Captains' fans in her first official year on the squad in 2021. After transferring to CNU ahead of the 2020 campaign, the Norfolk, Va. native wasted no time making an impact on the Captains' offense as she scored the first goal of the season for Christopher Newport with the game-winning strike against Catholic. She would notch two more scores and an assist in her first four games and would go on to finish second on the team in scoring with 21 points on nine goals and three assists. Five of her goals were winners, including the penultimate tally of the season in the NCAA National Championship Game against top-ranked TCNJ. 

Eiser adds her third career All-State recognition with her second nod on the first team. Saving her best for last, Eiser rewrote the record books in 2021 with inarguably the finest season in program history between the pipes. Putting the punctuation mark on the greatest career for a goalkeeper in program history, the third team All-Region netminder set single season and career records for nearly every statistical measure. Her 0.23 GAA for the season led the nation and lowered her career mark to 0.49, shattering the previous mark of 0.70 set by Carly Maglio from 2014-17. She started 22 games and allowed just five goals with 67 saves this season and was in goal for 15 of Christopher Newport's 16 shutouts this season. 

Harrigan and Savage were key members of the starting lineup all season long. Harrigan was named a second team All-Region midfielder and was a lynchpin to the Captains' fluid rotation offensively and defensively. She ranked second on the team in minutes played and often controlled action moving forward while helping lock down opponents' attacking runs defensively. She scored twice this season, including the game-winning goal at Randolph-Macon. Savage started all 23 games at outside back for the Captains and added eight points offensively. She scored two goals and contributed four assists to tie for sixth on the team in scoring. 

Christopher Newport is the first undefeated national champion since 2014 and was only the tenth in the history of Division III women's soccer that raised the trophy without a loss on their record. The Captains wrapped up the year ranked No. 1 in the nation.
 

2021 College Division Women's Soccer All-State Teams

Major Award Winners
Player of the Year: Riley Cook, CNU
Co-Rookie of the Year: Emma Ricci, CNU
Co-Rookie of the Year: Celia de Diego, Averett
Defensive Player of the Year: Jill McDonald, CNU
Coach of the Year: Jamie Gunderson, CNU
 
First Team
F - Sarah Smith, CNU
F - Sara Bane, Randolph
F - Celia de Diego, Averett
F - Emma Ricci, CNU
MF - Riley Cook, CNU
MF - Erin Hoeh, Wash. & Lee
MF - Hanna Randolph, Bridgewater
D - Jill McDonald, CNU
D - Sam Crawford, Virginia Wesleyan
D - Alix Allen, Lynchburg
GK - Haley Elser, CNU
 
Second Team
F - Ashley Sabatino, Bridgewater
F - Breacain McClenahan, Virginia Wesleyan
F - Morgan O'Neill, Roanoke
MF - Abby Harrigan, CNU
MF - Kennedi Anders, Virginia Wesleyan
MF - Grace Wielechowski, Wash. & Lee
D - Chloe Rapier, Wash. & Lee
D - Nyah Savage, CNU
D - Maren Dougherty, Bridgewater
D - Mia Clary, Roanoke
GK - Sydney Davis, Bridgewater