Nearly two months after landing an overtime game-winner against Lynchburg in the regular season, Alex Brendes came back and did it again as the sophomore star capitalized on more late-game heroics to help lift the ninth-ranked Christopher Newport men's lacrosse team to a 12-11 victory over the fourth-ranked Hornets on Saturday during the NCAA Quarterfinals at Salisbury's Sea Gull Stadium. Adding another chapter to a storybook season, the Captains earned the program's first trip to the NCAA Final Four with their come-from-behind victory on Saturday. Trailing by as many as three goals in the first half, Christopher Newport dug in and overcame the deficit early in the third quarter before Brendes added the game's final blow in overtime to seal the win. Brendes finished the contest with three goals, including his fifth game-winning strike of the year, which established a new single-season school record. It also marked his third overtime rocket after he previously ended marathon battles against Lynchburg on March 20 and Washington & Lee on April 20. In addition to Brendes, Dylan Rice added four goals and helped pace the comeback bid with three darts in the third quarter. Coby Auslander chipped in with four points as well. Meanwhile, on the other end of the field, Zac Hanway came through with 11 saves, and the defensive unit combined for 13 takeaways, including six in the fourth stanza, to keep the high-powered Hornets in check. With the victory, Christopher Newport improves to 13-5 on the season. The Captains will square off with No. 2 Salisbury on Sunday at 2 p.m. with a trip to the NCAA Championship on the line. The Sea Gulls advanced to the semifinals with a 30-5 win over Illinois Wesleyan on Saturday. After Lynchburg knotted the game at 11 with 90 seconds remaining in regulation, Christopher Newport's defense stepped up. Although the Hornets had the final possession with time winding down in the fourth quarter, Aidan Wheeler bottled up a one-on-one battle along the right pipe before Max Wayne came storming over and cleaned up the play with a bruising check, which forced a shot-clock violation and put a punctuation mark on the first 60 minutes. In overtime, the Hornets won the opening faceoff and ripped a pair of shots, but Burke Widhelm stayed deep on the second attempt and won a race to the end line to flip possession. Pushing the tempo, Widhelm fed the ball to Wheeler, who quickly cleared midfield before handing control over to the offense. Going right to work, Auslander burst up the field and drew the attention of the defense. With the Hornets pursuing, he flipped a pass back to Brendes, who caught the feed with some momentum. Moving forward, he faced a pair of defenders but never hesitated. Bursting through the double team, he rushed towards the cage, dove forward, and unleashed a screamer into the back of the net, which capped off the festivities and kicked off an epic celebration. During the contest, Lynchburg held a commanding 41-28 advantage in shots, but the Captains converted at a 43 percent clip to make up for the shortage. Meanwhile, the two squads split the 26 faceoffs, including 12 wins by freshman Zack Sands. Helping lead the comeback, the first-year phenom won all six faceoffs in the second quarter as Christopher Newport found its rhythm and began chipping away at the early deficit. In the opening quarter, Lynchburg was the aggressor and stole a quick lead. Although Will Stockhausen whistled a one-timer off a feed from Drew Miller in the middle of the period, the Hornets snuck out to a 4-1 advantage after the first 15 minutes. Unfazed by the early stumble, the Captains battled back. Kicking off the second stanza in style, Miles Collins slipped through some traffic and snatched the roller following a lengthy fight on the opening faceoff. Still cruising, the senior bolted straight towards the cage before firing on the doorstep for Christopher Newport's second goal. Meanwhile, on the defensive side, Phoenix Hines cracked the stick of a shooter, which caused an atempt to sail over the cage. Shortly thereafter, Ryan Young stripped an attacker from behind and forced a loose ball. Although a Hornet was in decent position to snag possession along the right sideline, Collins lowered his shoulder and delivered a thunderous blow, which allowed the ball to dribble out of bounds to complete the takeaway. Finding their groove again, the Hornets eventually slapped two straight goals on the board in the middle of the period to steal a 6-2 lead, but Christopher Newport retaliated. With six minutes left in the half, Stockhausen controlled the ball at the top of the zone and garnered the attention of a second defender, which allowed Auslander to wiggle free on the right side. After securing a pass, Auslander loaded up for a shot, which caused a defenseman to spin around to protect his body from a devastating pointblank rip. Staring at the back of the Hornet, the sophomore simply holstered the shot, cut inside, and used a nice hesitation move to shake the goalie before unloading along the left pipe. Clamping down on Lynchburg's response during a short-handed situation, Jack Cook intercepted a pass before unleashing a behind-the-back flip to Campbell Pozin, who scooted up the field on a successful clear. Later, the offense capitalized again with some help from Hines. In the middle of the action, the long-stick specialist showed off his hands with a beautiful feed around a Hornet. On the receiving end, Rice took the pass and drove home his first strike on the interior. After Sands won another faceoff following a lengthy scuffle near midfield, Brendes pulled the Captains closer. Isolated behind the crease, he rolled up along the left pipe while facing a one-on-one situation. Although the defender stayed in his face, the sophomore simply slammed on the brakes and fired over the head of the Hornet to cut the deficit down to one at 6-5 entering halftime. Following the break, Pozin put together a tremendous series to help Christopher Newport even the score. First, on the defensive end, he badgered an attacker with relentless pressure at the top of the zone before forcing a shot to miss high. Moments later, after Widhelm pounced on an errant pass, the defenseman found Pozin screaming up the field on a clear attempt. With Lynchburg struggling to catch up, Pozin slipped the ball to Rice, who painted the bottom right corner of the cage with a missile, which tied the score at six. Although the Hornets pulled ahead again with back-to-back goals during a three-minute rally, Christopher Newport settled in. Tormenting the Lynchburg defense with an unrelenting assault, the Captains fired back. Kicking off the resurgence, Brendes cut around a defender and laced his second goal of the game. Moments later, after Lynchburg was hit with a penalty, Christopher Newport used some trickery to knot the score again. Crossing paths at the top of the zone, Brady Altobello and Coby Auslander teamed up on a hidden-ball trick. Altobello used a quick flip to hand the ball to Auslander but continued moving to his right before miming a shot without anything in his stick. Meanwhile, with the eyes of the defense split between the two Captains, Auslander threaded a pass inside to Rice, who dipped down and unloaded a submarine shot into the back of the cage before a defender could close out on the interior. With the score knotted at eight, Christopher Newport was poised to take its first lead of the game in the waning moments of the third quarter. Although Lynchburg withstood the first surge, the Hornets could not clear the zone. Miller and Rice double-teamed a defender on the left side of the field. The two attackers eventually tied their foe in knots before dumping him to the turf and forcing a turnover. With the extra possession, Rice took advantage. Capitalizing on a screen by Brendes, which disrupted a pair of defenders, the senior captain rolled over the top and blasted from deep, which gave the squad a 9-8 lead. Trailing for the first time all day, Lynchburg attempted to tie the game in the final minutes of the third period, but Widhelm put an end to the surge. The defenseman made a fanastic play during a quick transition to lock down an attacker on the doorstep to prevent a shot. Although the Hornets kept possession, the junior came back and won a battle for a loose ball while lunging through four players along the crease to help close out the quarter. In the fourth, Lynchburg controlled the opening faceoff, but Cook stripped a Hornet from behind before Collins cleared the zone. Seconds later, Altobello capitalized on the other end. After securing a pass from Rice, he cut hard to his left, causing a defender to slip. With some space, he motored to the left side of the field, found his spot, and torched the back of the net with his first goal, which gave the Captains a 10-8 edge. Following Lynchburg's ninth strike, Christopher Newport's defense helped the Captains stretch their lead again. This time, Collins and Widhelm joined forces and ripped possession away from an attacker, who tried to roll through a double team. Facing a difficult clear, Hanway dropped a pinpoint pass to Auslander at midfield. Moments later, with the ball still in his stick behind the crease, the second-year star dodged to his right before cutting back to his left. Steaming around the right pipe, he eventually snapped off a bouncer through the keeper for an 11-9 lead. With time ticking down and the Hornets backed into a corner, Christopher Newport attempted to hold onto the lead. Hines rode a midfielder all around the turf before forcing an off-target pass, which Hanway collected. After Lynchburg returned to the offensive end, Widhelm momentarily dislodged the ball from an attackman. Although the Captains were unable to corral the roller, Wayne continued stalking the Hornet who picked it up. Tracking the attacker towards the right sideline, the senior All-American blew up the play as he blasted the stick right out of the hands of his opponent before collecting the ball. After tossing it to Collins, the short-stick midfielder completed an acrobatic clear as he spun his way through two midfielders to cut crucial time off the clock. Although Lynchburg pulled back within one with six minutes remaining, Hanway put together a game-saving run. First, the sophomore goalie made a huge save to brush aside an on-target rip after a Hornet slipped free. Later, he went to his knees to snuff out a low liner. Although the ball slipped loose and trickled towards the cage, he spun around and made a sprawling stop to snatch it just before it snuck inside the left pipe. Entering the final two minutes, the Hornets managed to toss one more goal on the board, which tied the game at 11. However, the Captains never let them pull ahead. Coupling late-game defensive heroics with Brendes' overtime bullet, Christopher Newport landed the final nail to close out the win and lock up its spot in the Final Four.