FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- Christopher Newport peppered the Methodist defense with 52 shots en route to a 23-6 win in men's lacrosse on Wednesday afternoon at Monarch Stadium.
 
Jake Smerka netted his third straight hat trick for Methodist, but the Captains (3-1) fired twice as many shots as the Monarchs (2-3) and won 23-of-33 faceoffs in the victory.
 
Christopher Newport needed less than a minute to get on the scoreboard as Brooks Billings scored at the 14:19 mark to give CNU a 1-0 lead. Andrew Ruskey tied the game at 1-1 at 10:44 with a goal off a feed from Sean Mayefskie, but CNU answered with four straight markers for a 5-1 lead at the 5:51 mark of the first quarter.
 
Matt Layden scored unassisted make it 5-2 in favor of the visitors less than a minute later, but the Captains pushed out to an 8-2 lead early in the second quarter and kept up the offensive pressure, taking a 14-4 lead into halftime.
 
Andrew Chinigo started in the cage for MU and made three saves with 14 goals allowed. Liam Van Hoene played the final 30 minutes and allowed nine goals with seven saves. Ryan Long started and earned the win in playing the first quarter, he allowed a pair of goals and made three saves. C.J. Buechner played the remainder of the contest and allowed two goals with nine saves.
 
In addition to their advantage in shots, the Captains also led in ground balls, 40-25, and committed just eight turnovers, while MU turned it over 13 times.
 
Matt Layden finished with a goal and an assist, and Ben Click scored as well for MU. Jacob Fitch had four ground balls, and Jaylen Robinson, Mack Cox, Matt Layden, and Ruskey all had three.
 
For CNU, 18 different players dented the scoring column, led by seven points (3g, 4a) from Will Geise. Brooks Billings (2g, 1a) and John Thompson (3g) each had three points. Harrison Drier had a game-high six ground balls, and Joey Rolando and Nick Kirschke each had four. Spencer Godine won 8-of-9 faceoffs, and Tony Cruz finished 10-of-16.
 
The Monarchs are back on the field on Friday, when they host Alvernia at 3:00 pm.