NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The top-ranked Christopher Newport women's soccer team extended the team's unbeaten streak to 25 games with a pair of shutouts this weekend as the suffocating defense of 2021 has carried over to the start of the 2022 season. Leading the way, senior center back Jill McDonald played all 180 minutes and secured Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Defensive Player honors. 

The Captains' All-American defender helped hold a pair of tough opponents scoreless in the 2022 Marlin Invitational hosted by Virginia Wesleyan University. McDonald and the rest of the CNU defense stymied the College of Saint Benedict from start-to-finish, holding the Bennies to just four shots in the game. Then, the Captains took on 19th-ranked McDaniel College on Sunday and allowed just a single shot from inside the box all game. 

Facing a stalwart defensive team that allowed only six goals in 2021, the Captains' defense more than matched the Green Terror by allowing just four shots on goal in the contest. McDonald and the rest of the back line allowed just one shot from inside the box and the remaining three shots on-goal came from distance as the Captains shut down any chance of getting close to the goal. 

With a pair of clean sheets to start the 2022 campaign, McDonald helped CNU extend the team's scoreless streak to 365:30, marking the second-longest shutout streak during the team's 25-match unbeaten streak. Most impressively, three of those four shutouts have come against nationally-ranked opponents: No. 9 Loras in the NCAA semifinals, No. 1 TCNJ in the NCAA championship, and No. 19 McDaniel on Sunday. 

This is the first time McDonald has been named the C2C Defensive Player of the Week in her career.

Christopher Newport will return to action on Wednesday, September 7 as they travel to Virginia Wesleyan again to take on the host Marlins at 7:30 p.m.