NEWPORTS NEWS, Va. -- It was a 1-2 scoring punch of a pair of former Virginia Beach high school teammates that helped carry Virginia Wesleyan College's Marlins to a 3-2 victory over host Christopher Newport University Saurday in the Joe Pombriant/CNU Classic.

Sophomore Travis Walke and rookie Kyle Fisher, former scoring leaders from Landstown high, both scored a goal in the second half to help Virginia Wesleyan establish a 3-1 lead late in the game.  CNU (1-1) followed with a score, but could not rally past the Marlins.

Virginia Wesleyan improved to 2-0 for the first time since 2007, which was also the last time the Marlins defeated CNU.  VWC now leads the soccer series between the colleges, 24-12-3.

A crowd of 1,038 watched Virginia Wesleyan take the lead in the first half when Brian Cornell (Front Royal/Warren County) headed the ball into the goal off a corner kick from the left in the 28th minute. Chris Luce (Chesapeake/Oscar F. Smith) and Josh Richardson (Hampton/Kecoughtan) were both credited with assists on the goal.

Walke scored in the 55th minute to make it a 2-0 VWC lead, but CNU's Ryan Balfour (Sheeperton, England/Conestoga) scored less than a minute later on a running shot from the right.

A similar scenario followed in the 75th minute when Fisher gave VWC a 3-1 lead on a shot assisted by Jonathan Burke (Middletown, Del./Salesianum).  Less than a minute later, Tommy O'Neal (Stafford/North Stafford) came through for the Captains, scoring on a header off a corner, assisted by Jalon Brown (Yorktown/Grafton).

CNU finished the game with a slim 19-15 advantage in shots, while VWC held the edge in corner kicks, 10-7.

Connor Kirkham (Centreville/Chantilly Westfield) turned in an impressive effort in goal for the Marlins, posting seven goals.  Nolan Mann (Lynchburg/Holy Cross) recorded four saves for CNU.

Virginia Wesleyan competes again on Sept. 7 and Sept 8, hosting the Marlin Invitational on Foster Field at the Trinder Center.  The Marlins take on Ohio's Baldwin-Wallace University at 7 p.m. on Saturday and faces the University of Mary Washington on Sunday at 7 p.m.

--AMDG--