NEWPORT NEWS— The Christopher Newport University women’s soccer team has been making history over the past four seasons and has now set a new NCAA record: 77 consecutive games without a loss.
First-time head coach Jamie Gunderson took over the Captains before the start of the 2020 season. Gunderson’s inaugural season with CNU was in 2021 due to the pandemic, when he helped lead the program to its first-ever national championship.
“If you would have told me that I’d win a national championship in my first year, I would have laughed at you. If you look at it, there’s a ton of really good sports teams and coaches that have been around for 20-plus years and they’ve never done it. Then, you have an opportunity your first year, and it happens, it’s just unheard of and doesn’t ever really happen,” Gunderson said.
In 2022, after winning the national championship, Gunderson began to notice that the team was playing more tense. With pressure mounting, Gunderson and the coaching staff decided to have a heart-to-heart conversation with the team.
“After winning in 2021, we started going through our 2022 season and there was this pressure that I felt with the group that we weren’t playing the game, we were playing not to lose. We were almost to a point where it was so tense and pressured on ourselves, not playing with freedom that we knew we had to talk to the girls. We really laid everything out there for them and after that, we had a phenomenal second half,” Gunderson said.
After being eliminated from the NCAA Tournament’s elite eight in penalty kick shootouts in both 2022 and 2023, Gunderson and the team approached the 2024 season with that same heart-to-heart chat.
“We talked about that pressure during preseason. We laid it out there again for them. We’re playing really well right now and I don’t feel the way I felt in 2022 or 2023. We’re doing what we know how to do and I think it has a lot to do with the fact that we did have that heart-to-heart conversation,” Gunderson said.
Gunderson’s coaching philosophy remains the same as it has since day one on the CNU pitch: one game at a time.
“Bottom line, I want the girls to work hard. That right there is going to let you do the things that you are great at. I like allowing my players to do what they do really well. I don’t want to mold them or to change them. If they have good range of play, I want them to utilize that range of play. If they are good with the ball at their feet, I want them to get the ball at their feet and take players on. My job is to create an environment where my players can use their strengths,” Gunderson said.
Currently, Gunderson’s record as a head coach is 69 wins, zero losses and eight draws — a 77-game unbeaten streak. The Captains will take on Southern Virginia University at home on Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. looking to add win number 70 for Gunderson.
But Gunderson knows the team is aware of the streak, it’s not what they are playing for.
“For me, I’m happy we are on this streak and we have made this history, but our team goal is to win another national championship,” Gunderson said.
For more information on Christopher Newport University women’s soccer, visit cnusports.com.
