Elon Men’s Soccer Phoenix and Huskies to Clash on Saturday

ELON, N.C. – Searching for its first win during Colonial Athletic Association play, the Elon University men’s soccer team heads to Boston for the first time to take on Northeastern on Saturday, Oct. 6. Kickoff from Parsons Field is set for 6 p.m.

Follow @ElonMensSoccer
Fans can follow the Phoenix on Saturday with updates on Twitter from the program’s handle @ElonMensSoccer. Other score updates will also be provided at the handle @elonscores as well as live stats from the men’s soccer home page.

Versus Northeastern
Saturday will be the fifth meeting in the brief series between the Phoenix and the Huskies and the first in Northeastern. Both programs met for the first time in 2013 and battled to a 1-1 draw at the John Rennie Nike Invitational prior to Elon joining the CAA a year later. Since then, the maroon and gold has won two out of three against the Huskies with each game coming in Elon. Last season, the Phoenix topped NU 2-1 thanks to a game-winner by Amir Berkane near the 72nd minute.

High Point Recap
A goal from Jaiden Fortune around the 31st minute helped the Phoenix to a 1-1 draw at High Point last Saturday, Oct. 1, in a battle of inter-Triad rivals. The Panthers got on the board early in the match in the second minute to take a 1-0 lead over the maroon and gold. Elon was held without a shot for the first 30 minutes of the match before Fortune’s equalizer. The sophomore striker headed his second score of the season off a cross from Nick Adamczyk to knot the game at 1-1. While both teams had ample opportunities for the go-ahead score, neither squad could find the evasive game-winner as the match ended with the Phoenix’s third draw of the season.

Road Warriors
Heading into Saturday’s match, it will be over 30 days since the Phoenix last played at home. Since earning a 1-0 victory against the University of Detroit Mercy on Sept. 4, the Phoenix played its next four matches on the road over the span of three weeks. Elon was scheduled to host No. 24 UNCW for its CAA home opener on Sept. 28, but inclement weather forced the postponement of that match to a later date this season. After road trips to High Point (Oct. 1) and Northeastern (Oct. 8), Elon’s next home match is scheduled for Oct. 12, versus William & Mary, 39 days since the Phoenix’s last home match at Rudd Field.

Making Their Mark
Elon welcomed 16 newcomers to its roster for 2016 with 11 of them seeing playing time on the pitch so far this season. Including redshirt freshman, 13 total players are seeing the field for the first time in an Elon uniform. Two newcomers, defender Luke Matthews and midfielder Marcel Fahrenholz, have started every game this season while three others – Austin Hill, Jack Willbye and Tuki Tayali – have played over 150 minutes off the bench. Hill and Tayali are third and fourth on the squad in total points, respectively, while Matthews is seventh. Fahrenholz and Willbye are tied for first and second on the team in assists with three and two, respectively.

Balanced Attack
So far during the 2016 season, the Phoenix has made great use of its overall depth on opposing teams. Among position players, 14 players have tallied over 150 minutes for the maroon and gold this season with 13 of them seeing action in all seven matches. A total of 11 players have notched points so far this season. While Elijah Agu has accounted for six of the Phoenix 17 goals this season, he is one of eight Phoenix players to have scored a goal in 2016 and one of seven to have boasted 10 or more shot attempts.

About Elon
Elon’s draw at High Point extended the Phoenix’s winless streak to three games with a record of 0-1-2 and an overall ledger of 4-2-3. It’s the longest winless streak for the program since 2011 with Elon’s last victory coming at NC State on Sept. 13. With the cancellation of its CAA home-opener versus UNCW last Wednesday, Sept. 28, Elon will have played six straight matches on the road. In the previous five games, the Phoenix is 1-1-3 with the lone loss coming at then No. 24 Radford in double overtime.

Despite being outshot in the last two matches by opponents, the Phoenix is still leading the CAA in shots per game at 16.56 and is second overall in total shots. Elon is also second in the league in goals per match at 1.89, assists per match (1.89) and is third overall in total assists (17) and total points (51). Fortune became the fourth Phoenix player to have multi-goals this season at High Point joining Agu (6), Hill (3) and Tayali (2).

Defensively, Elon has allowed the fewest goals in the CAA with seven through its nine matches with opponents averaging just over 11 shots per game. The Phoenix has allowed one or fewer goal in seven of its nine matches with four shutouts. Matthew Jegier has played all but nine minutes in goal this season and is third in the CAA in save percentage (.774) and second in GAA (0.72).

About Northeastern
The Huskies enter Saturday’s match after coming off a 1-0 victory over Hartford on Tuesday, Oct. 4. The victory snapped a season-high four-game losing streak for Northeastern, who enter the weekend with a 3-8 overall ledger and a 1-3 mark during league play.

Northeastern has scored seven goals this season and is averaging nine shots per match. Six different players have notched at least one goal this year for the Huskies with Daniel Arvidsson being the team-leader with two. Seven different Huskies have tallied at least one assist this year.

NU has struggled defensively conceding 27 goals with 17 of those being allowed during the second half. Opponents are averaging 14.5 shots per contest with 79 total coming on target. Two players have seen time in goal in 2016 for the Huskies with Jonathan Thuresson manning the most minutes between the posts. The Örebro, Sweden, native has made 28 saves with a 1.71 GAA.

Up Next
The Phoenix hosts William & Mary on Oct. 12, at Rudd Field. That match is scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff.