ELON, N.C. – In a match that could determine the outcome of the Colonial Athletic Association regular-season championship, the 10th-ranked Elon University men’s soccer team visits No.24 Hofstra on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 7 p.m. at the Hofstra Soccer Stadium in Hempstead, N.Y.
Follow the Phoenix
Fans can follow the Phoenix on Saturday 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 match will be streamed for free through Hofstra’s athletic website, gohofstra.com.
Series History
Both teams have played each other once on the soccer pitch, which was last season in Elon. The Pride earned a 2-0 victory over the Phoenix in the maroon and gold’s first-ever match as a member of the CAA. In a match mired with 28 fouls and eight yellow cards, Hofstra’s Maid Memic and Danny Elliott scored the lone goals of the match while keeper Patric Pray made seven saves.
Last Time Out
The Phoenix suffered a 2-1 setback in overtime at in-state rival Duke on Tuesday, Oct. 20. Elon’s Cooper Vandermaas-Peeler put the Phoenix up 1-0 in the 14th minute, but the Blue Devils rallied back with two unanswered scores including the golden goal at the 99th minute in Elon’s first overtime match of the season.
Phoenix Nationally Ranked
Elon is currently ranked at No. 10 in both the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Top 25 Poll and the College Soccer News Top 30 Poll. The Phoenix is also No. 14 in TopDrawerSoccer.com Top 25 Poll. Elon has been nationally ranked for five consecutive weeks – its longest streak in program history – and holds the top spot in the NSCAA Mid-West Regional Poll.
Elon No. 13 in Latest RPI Report
The Phoenix is No. 13 in the latest NCAA Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), a 10-spot improvement from last week’s rankings. The Pride is at No. 31 in the RPI rankings while Elon still has dates at home against Radford (33) and College of Charleston (76) to close out the regular-season.
Phoenix Rack Up Weekly Awards
Phoenix first-year player Jaiden Fortune was named the CAA Rookie of the Week on Monday, Oct. 19. The Bedford, England, native earned his second league weekly accolade of the season after scoring his second game-winner of the year against James Madison. It was his fourth goal overall on the season.
Four Phoenix players have received league weekly accolades this year along with Matthew Jegier (Rookie), Fortune (Player and Rookie), Nicholas O’Callaghan (Player and Rookie), and Amir Berkane (Rookie).
On Tuesday, senior Eduardo Alvarez was named to TopDrawerSoccer.com’s National Team of the Week. The Reitoca, Honduras, native helped the Phoenix go 2-0 last week in a pair of CAA matches while tallying three points. He scored a goal at No. 24 UNCW in Elon’s 2-1 over the Seahawks and had an assist in the Phoenix’s 2-1 win over James Madison.
Alvarez joins O’Callaghan as Elon players to earn a spot on TDS National Team of the Week this season. O’Callaghan was placed on the squad on Sept. 22.
About Elon (12-3, 5-1 CAA)
The Phoenix and the Pride head into Saturday’s match tied atop the CAA standings with 15 points each with both squads five points ahead of the third-place team, College of Charleston. After Saturday, both programs will have only one conference match left on the year. This will also be the Phoenix’s third game of the season against a ranked opponent with each match coming on the road.
James Brace is tied for the team-lead in goals (five) and assists (four) and paces the program with 14 points. The Hartlepool, England, native tallied his 52nd career point on Tuesday at Duke moving him into the top-10 in program history. Three other players have double-digit points for Elon in Alvarez (12), Fortune (12) and Vandermaas-Peeler (11).
Elon’s 31 goals lead the CAA while the Phoenix also has a +16 goal differential over its opponents. The Phoenix has seen 11 different players find the back of the net this season including seven multi-goal scorers.
Scouting Hofstra (10-5, 5-1 CAA)
The Pride has lost two straight with back-to-back defeats at College of Charleston and No. 13 Coastal Carolina this past week. Hofstra is guided by head coach Richard Nuttall, who is in his 27th year at the helm of the program.
Hofstra has scored 25 goals on the season while yielding only 16 to its opponents. The Pride is getting off nearly 13 shots a contest with almost 47 percent of those being on target. Two players – Joseph Holland and Meshack Eshun Addy – both have a team-best six goals on the year with Holland leading the CAA with his eight assists.
Pray has played every minute between the posts for Hofstra and has made a CAA-high 65 saves to go with five shutouts and a goal-against average of 1.02
Up Next
Elon closes out its final nonconference match of the season against Radford next Wednesday, Oct. 28, at Rudd Field. That match is scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff.