Virginia Beach, Va. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse soccer team split a pair of games at the Atlantic Orthopedics Soccer Tournament to open its 2018 season.  The Eagles, ranked ninth on the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Top-25 Poll, fell 2-1 to 17th-ranked Christopher Newport University (Va.) on August 31 before coming back to earn a 2-1 win over 24th-ranked Virginia Wesleyan University on September 1.

Versus CNU, Kaitlyn Villars gave UWL a 1-0 lead at 1:58 with an assist from Margaret Harings.  The Eagles led 1-0 at halftime after finishing with two shots in the first half.  The Captains had six shots in the first half.

CNU tied the game at 1-1 with Gabby Gillis scoring at 56:34, assisted by Maxine Borris.  The Captains took a 2-1 lead at 89:07 as Gillis scored the game-winner with Carson Pokorny recording an assist.

UWL finished with six shots in the game while CNU recorded 11.  Villars and Hannah Beech each had two shots for the Eagles while Gillis finished with five for the Captains. Lily Brock recorded five saves for UWL with Haley Eiser finishing with two for CNU.

UWL and Virginia Wesleyan were scoreless in the first half Saturday after combining for 11 shots (five for UWL and six for Virginia Wesleyan).  The Eagles took a 1-0 lead at 51:28 as Heather Baran scored her first goal of the season with Villars getting the assist.  Tess Wingblade tied the game for Virginia Wesleyan at 64:39, but UWL got the game-winner at 85:08 on Mary Mansker's first goal of the year.  Alex Davidson hit the crossbar for Virginia Wesleyan with under 4:00 remaining as UWL held on to record its first win the season.

The Eagles had 14 shots in the game as Harings, Baran, Beech and Maya Schmitt each recorded two.  The Marlins finished with 12 shots with Davidson and Carleigh Van Reenen each having two.  Brock earned the win with four saves while Tristen Roberts had five for Virginia Wesleyan.

UWL returns to action Wednesday, September 5 at Wartburg College (Iowa) at 7 p.m.