ELON, N.C. – The Elon University men's soccer team earned its eighth clean sheet of the season as the Phoenix battled William & Mary to a 0-0 draw on Saturday night, Oct. 8, in a Colonial Athletic Association match at Rudd Field.
 
With the scoreless draw, the Phoenix moves to 7-3-2 on the season overall and is tied with Hofstra at the top of the league standings at 4-1-1. The Tribe moved to 3-2-6 to extend their unbeaten streak to eight games while having a 2-1-3 ledger in the CAA.
 
"Credit to William & Mary for a very competitive game," said Elon head coach Marc Reeves. "They have been unbeaten for over a month and are a well-coached team. I don't think we started that well in the first half but certainly created enough chances in the second half to win it. Overall, it was a typical CAA conference match."
 
THE RUNDOWN
• At the start of the match, William & Mary had control of the possession for most of the opening period. The Phoenix defense however held the Tribe to only two shots in the first 45 minutes, none on goal.
• Kasper Lehm had the Phoenix's first chance at a scoring opportunity, ripping a shot from about 10 yards inside the box, but his effort missed high in the 20^th minute.
• Elon almost converted the first score of the match near the 29^th minute. The Phoenix earned a corner kick and serviced the ball into the box where it was headed out by the Tribe defense. Lehm sent the ball back into the box where it found the head of Franc Gamiz Quer, but the ball sailed off target.
• The Phoenix defense clamped down in the second half, holding William & Mary to only two shots in the period with none on goal.
• The lone shot on goal in the game came from the Phoenix in the 54^th minute. Ben Rosenblatt found himself one-on-one versus the keeper near the top right corner of the six-yard box and fired a shot that was knocked away.
 
NOTES
• Elon outshot William & Mary, 7-4, and held an opponent without a shot on goal for the second time this season. The Phoenix also blanked Stony Brook in attempts on target on Sept. 10.
• The Phoenix's eighth shutout ties for the fifth-most for the program in a single season. Elon also achieved that feat in 2016 and 1987.
• The clean sheet was also the eighth of the season for Phoenix netminder Ryan Bilichuk, which leads the NCAA. The Greensville, S.C., native moved into a tie for fifth on the program's single-season shutout list and is just two away from tying the program's all-time record of 10.
• Rosenblatt played his first game of the 2022 season after missing the first 11 matches due to an injury. The junior played 35 minutes in the contest.
• The result moves the all-time series record between the two teams to 7-4-3 in favor of the Tribe. Elon however is unbeaten in the past three games and four out of the past five meetings.
 
UP NEXT
Elon treks to Hofstra next Saturday, Oct. 15, in a battle of the top-two teams in the league standings and a rematch of last year's CAA Championship final. That contest is scheduled for a 1 p.m. kickoff.