50 straight! CNU women's soccer extends streak of games without loss

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — You could be forgiven for not knowing the last time Christopher Newport’s women’s soccer team has been tagged with an official loss.

It’s hard to remember.

The No. 3 nationally-ranked Captains’ 2-0 win over No. 17 Virginia Wesleyan Tuesday gave them 50 straight games without a loss, going 46-0-4 since a Nov. 17, 2019 loss to Johns Hopkins in the second round of the NCAA Division III tournament.

The streak began with Jamie Gunderson first game as head coach of the team in 2021, having assumed the head coaching position in spring 2020 before the 2020-2021 season was canceled due to COVID-19.

It’s just the 10th such streak in NCAA women’s soccer history — inclusive of NCAA Divisions I, II and III — in which a school has gone 50 consecutive games without a loss.

Among the 14 NCAA sports that keep official coaching won-loss records, there have been fewer than 50 streaks in the history of the organization that have reached at least 50 games.

Gunderson, already the record-holder among NCAA soccer coaches, is believed to be the first to reach the milestone in his first 50 games of his first-ever head coaching position in those 14 sports. He took over as coach for the Captains after spending eight seasons as an assistant with the team and was named national coach of the year in his first season.

Gunderson, before arriving at CNU, was a four-year starter at Methodist University and competed professionally for the Norfolk Sharx of the Major Indoor Soccer League and played with Lionsbridge FC. He also coached with the Virginia Legacy club from 2009 to 2019.

The win Tuesday gave Christopher Newport a measure of revenge against the Marlins, who eliminated the Captains from the NCAA Division III tournament last season in the quarterfinals. That game, because it finished in a scoreless tie through regulation and overtime, is not counted as an official loss.

CNU, which has won its first five games this season without a loss or tie, hits the road this weekend for a pair of matches in Columbus, Ohio — against Capital University Friday night and Ohio Northern University in a Sunday matinee.