BOX SCORE

NORFOLK, Va. -- Chris Thomas' third goal of the season was a big one as the sophomore's score just 2:49 into the contest propelled the Elon Phoenix to a 1-0 victory over the Old Dominion Monarchs on Friday night.  The victory, Elon's first over ODU in six tries, improved the Phoenix to 2-2-1 on the season while the Monarchs dropped to 3-2-0.

The Elon attack started less than a minute into the game when Daniel Lovitz fired a shot wide of the frame.  The Phoenix would not miss on its next attempt as Thomas ran down a ball played behind the Monarch defense from Mark Berlin and beat ODU's Evan Newton one-on-one for the game's lone tally.

ODU tried to get the equalizer in the second half, testing Elon's Clint Irwin five times, but the Phoenix keeper was up to the task and turned away each attempt.  Irwin made six saves on the night to pick up the 21st shutout of his career.

"I thought our guys played very tough tonight," said Elon head coach Darren Powell.  " We were able to score a good early goal and then managed to hold off a lot of sustained pressure from ODU which is a very good and well-coached team.  We will get a quick rest and are looking forward to hosting Coastal Carolina on Sunday."

Both sides put six shots on frame over the 90 minutes of play.  The Phoenix was held without a corner kick while ODU earned 12 attempts on those set plays.

Of Elon's 10 total shots, five came off the foot of Thomas.  Four of those were on frame.

The Phoenix will return to Rudd Field to play host to Coastal Carolina at 2 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.