ELON, N.C. – Carson Jones and Taylor Paradoski each scored goals to lead the Elon University women's soccer team to a 2-1 victory over Radford on Thursday, Aug. 29.
 
"There's definitely a togetherness with this group that we didn't see last year," head coach Neil Payne said. "Everybody's chipping in and you can see that on and off the field. It's clear that there's a ton of resilience with this team that we had to cultivate a little bit, but it's certainly starting to come out now. This team has shown a ton of character so far this season. I think the good sign for us is that we didn't play particularly well tonight but we kept fighting and found a way to win."
 
The Phoenix moved to 3-0 overall, marking the first time in program history a team has won its first three games of the season. With the loss, Radford moved to 2-1 on the season.
 
HIGHLIGHTS
Elon applied the pressure early in the first half, recording three shots and one corner within the first 10 minutes of the match. Despite multiple chances, Radford's keeper Courtenay Kaplan was able to save two Hannah Doherty shots, while Sarah Bevington was also unable to finish.
 
Jones scored her second goal of the season on a shot from outside the eight-yard box, that was just far enough left to sneak past the keeper and into the back of the net. The play, which came off an assist from Jessica Carrieri, gave Elon a 1-0 lead in the 27^th minute.
 
Radford applied some pressure early in the second half, scoring the equalizer in the 54^th minute. The play knotted the game up at 1-1 with about 35 minutes to play in the half.
 
Paradoski scored her first goal of the season in the 67^th minute on assists from Hailey Tucker and Hannah Doherty. On the play, Doherty crossed the ball into the box where a header attempt by Tucker was blocked by a Radford defender. From there, Paradoski was able to control the ball and fire a rocket into the back of the net to put the Phoenix on top 2-1.
 
After surrendering their first goal of the season, Elon's defense took control late in the second half. During one stretch in the 84^th minute, Radford attempted four shots from inside the box but the Phoenix were able to keep the Highlanders from scoring. Two of the attempts were blocked by Phoenix defenders, while the other two were saved by Katrin Hauksdottir.
 
In the match, the Phoenix held a 6-5 advantage in shots on goal. In goal for Elon, Hauksdottir made two saves on the way to picking up her third win in as many games this season.
 
UP NEXT
Elon travels to Greenville, S.C. for a road contest against Furman. That match is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 1, at 5 p.m.