No. 13 Elon Men’s Soccer Welcomes Northeastern for Midweek CAA Contest

ELON, N.C. – The nationally ranked Elon University men’s soccer team welcomes Northeastern to Rudd Field for a midweek Colonial Athletic Association match on Wednesday, Oct. 7. Both programs are scheduled to begin play at 3:30 p.m.

Follow the Phoenix
Fans can follow the Phoenix on Wednesday and throughout the season with live updates on elonphoenix.com. Live stats for every men’s soccer match will be available on the team’s schedule and home pages on the Elon athletic website. In-game updates will also be provided on Twitter at @elonscores or the program’s handle @elonmenssoccer. The game will be streamed for free on Phoenix All-Access with John Roddey and Josh Gresh on the call.

Series History
Wednesday’s contest will be the fourth between the two programs in a series that dates back only to 2013. Both squads are deadlocked at 1-1-1 all-time with each team earning a victory last year. The Phoenix defeated the Huskies, 5-0, at home in 2014 during the regular season, but Northeastern eliminated the maroon and gold in the opening round of the CAA Tournament, 2-0, also in Elon.

Last Time Out
The Phoenix suffered its first setback in league play last Wednesday, Sept. 30, with a 4-1 defeat at the hands of William & Mary. The four goals conceded was a season-high for Elon and the most in a regular-season game since 2012. Freshman Amir Berkane had the lone goal for the Phoenix in the contest at the 80th minute, the first of his career.

Phoenix Nationally Ranked
Elon continues to be ranked nationally in a number of the major soccer polls. The maroon and gold is No. 13 in the most recent National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Top 25 Poll that was released on Tuesday, Oct. 6. Elon is also No. 23 in TopDrawerSoccer.com Top 25 Poll. Elon has been nationally ranked for three consecutive weeks – its longest streak in program history.

Elon Sits at No. 18 in NCAA RPI Report
The Phoenix is still a top-20 team in the nation in the most recent NCAA Ratings Percentage Index (RPI). The Phoenix currently sits No. 18 in the report, the second-highest ranking team from the CAA and one of four teams from the league in the top 30 overall with Hofstra (14), William & Mary (23) and UNCW (28).

About Elon
Berkane became 10th Phoenix player to score a goal this season, the highest total for the Phoenix since the 2011 season. During the conference season, Elon remains one of the league’s top teams offensively ranking in the top two in shots per game (17.33), points per game (5.67), goals (five), assists (7) and assists per game (2.33).

Overall, Elon is averaging 13.9 shots per contest compared to 10.6 for the opposition. The Phoenix is shooting 36 percent of those shots on target and is tied for seventh overall in the nation in total goals (23). Individually, Elon has four players ranked in the top 10 of the CAA in points in Jaiden Fortune (10), Eduardo Alvarez (nine), James Brace (nine) and Cooper Vandermaas-Peeler (nine).

The Phoenix has slipped a little statistically defensively after giving up its highest goal total of the season versus the Tribe last Wednesday. Elon opponents are averaging a goal per contest and have a shot on target percentage of .434. Keeper Matthew Jegier still leads the league in shutouts with six and has a goals against average of 1.00 with a .762 save percentage.

Scouting Northeastern (0-6-2, 0-2 CAA)
The Huskies have gotten off to a 0-6-2 start in its 2015 campaign after suffering a 3-2 setback versus James Madison last Wednesday. It was the fourth consecutive loss by Northeastern and also its fourth consecutive defeat by one goal.

The Huskies have struggled offensively throughout the year and have been shutout five times this season. Only once has Northeastern scored more than one goal this season, which came against the Dukes last Wednesday. Overall, NU is averaging only 0.50 goals per contest on 9.8 shots per match with Frantzdy Pierrot leading the squad with two goals.

On the other defensive side, the Huskies have allowed 12 goals this season with opponents averaging 12.4 shots against them. The NU goalkeeper duo Dylan Faber and Jonathan Thuresson have combined for a 1.40 GAA with 29 saves and a .707 save percentage.

Up Next
Elon takes a step outside of CAA with and hosts Lipscomb in a non-conference bout on Saturday, Oct. 10, at Rudd Field. Kickoff begins at 7 p.m.