No. 23 Elon 1, Radford 0 Rudd Field // Elon, N.C.

Elon head coach Darren Powell, junior keeper Nathan Dean and sophomore James Brace discuss the Phoenix's 1-0 win over Radford

ELON, N.C. – James Brace scored the match's lone goal in the 18^th minute as the 23^rd-ranked Elon men's soccer team held on and earned a 1-0 victory over Radford on Wednesday night, Sept. 25, at Rudd Field. The win was also the 300th win for the program.

Brace's game-winner improved the Phoenix to 6-1-1 on the year while the Highlanders fell to 3-3-1. It was the second game-winning goal of the season for the Hartlepool, England, native and the fourth score overall in 2013.

Brace received the ball from Mark Berlin inside the box and was able to make a move past a RU defender and placed the ball into the back right corner of the net. Berlin took a ball from Daniel Lovitz on a cross and was able to move down the right side of the field before dropping a nice pass inside to Brace.

Both teams played evenly in the first half with each squad being dead even on shots (5-5) and corners (2-2). Radford nearly put in the equalizer in the 28^th minute as Joe Mayer fired a shot that was blocked by an Elon defender. On the proceeding corner kick, Radford's Nico Valencia almost put one past the Phoenix defense, but Elon keeper Nathan Dean knocked it out of play to set up another corner. The Highlanders committed a foul and the score remained 1-0 going into halftime.

RU continued to chase the equalizer in the second stanza. The Highlanders barley outshot the Phoenix in the second half (5-4) and earned one more corner than the maroon and gold at 3-2. 

A dangerous moment came near the 60^th minute as Stephen Hudgens and Luis Grande and had a pair of chances, but Dean corralled Hudgens' shot and Grande's strike went high.

The effort would come for naught as Elon earned its second shut out in its last three matches as Dean made six saves on the contest. 

The Phoenix travels to High Point for its first true road match of the year on Saturday, Sept. 28. That game is slated for a 7 p.m. kickoff.