VIRGINIA BEACH -- Seconds after the end of Wednesday's women's soccer game at the Trinder Center, Virginia Wesleyan College head coach Jeff Bowers gathered his team on Foster Field.

He had a few things to say to the Marlins after a 2-0 upset loss to Christopher Newport University's Captains in one of the most sub-par efforts by a Bowers-coached team in several seasons.

The No. 20 ranked Marlins (3-1-1) finished with advantages in shots (15-10) and corner kicks (6-2), but could not spark a flat offensive effort overall.  Despite the edges in shots and corners, Virginia Wesleyan never really put the pressure on Christopher Newport's defense.

CNU (3-1-1) recorded its first win over VWC since 2002, snapping a streak that favored VWC 10-0-2 in the last 12 games.  Senior Emma O'Reilly (Springfield/South County), the leading scorer in CNU history, helped the Captains to the win by scoring both goals.  She found a gap near the post in the VWC defense to knock in the ball off a feed from Joy Pirto (Charlottesville/Albemarle) with 7:39 played.  O'Reilly hit again in the 20th minute on an unchallenged shot that caught the VWC defense off-guard.

After that 20th minute scoring the game was dominated by a lot of back-and-forth between the teams.

Rookie goalie Megan Gerhart (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) produced one save for the Marlins. Haley Casanova (Ashburn/Broad Run) finished with three saves for VWC.

Virginia Wesleyan begins Old Dominion Athletic Conference play on Saturday, Sept. 14, at Hollins University at 3 p.m.

--AMDG--