ELON, N.C. – A school-record 11^th shutout of the season and a header goal by Ben Rosenblatt allowed the Elon University men's soccer team to pull out a 1-0 victory over Drexel in its Colonial Athletic Association tournament semifinal on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 6 at Rudd Field.
 
With the win, the top-seeded Phoenix (11-3-3) advances to its second straight CAA championship final and will host defending league tournament champion Hofstra next Saturday, Nov. 12, at Rudd Field. Fifth-seeded Drexel falls to 7-5-6 on the year.
 
"Drexel is a really tough team," said Elon head coach Marc Reeves. "I think in the first half we were in good control in creating some great chances. Then lacked composure and quality on the ball in the second half. We had to dig deeper in the last 10 minutes as they were unlucky to not grab a goal to send it to overtime. They are a well-coached team with really good players, but sometimes if you just keep battling and keep believing it allows you to advance. We look forward to hosting the championship Saturday."
 
THE RUNDOWN
• Drexel had the first dangerous opportunity of the afternoon near the second minute as the Dragons' Kyle Tucker ripped a shot from 20-plus yards on an Elon turnover. The ball however was corralled easily by Phoenix netminder Ryan Bilichuk.
• Elon countered with its first shots on target by Scott Vatne and Mason Duval in the third and the 16^th minute, respectively. Both attempts were stopped by Drexel's keeper Alessandro Capogna.
• Coming into the 20^th minute, Marco Vesterholm serviced the ball into the box from about 30 yards out looking for a target. The ball found the head of Rosenblatt, who was able to rise above a pair of defenders in the final six to send the ball in off the near post and into the back of the net for his first goal of the year.
• The Phoenix looked to add some insurance goals deep in the second half. Elon's Calle Edelstam missed wide on a shot in the 72^nd minute while Jack Dolk had his attempt on target snuffed out by Capogna less than a minute later. Dolk followed up with another try less than 30 seconds later, but the forward missed the mark wide left.
• In the final 10 minutes, Drexel turned up the pressure to find the evasive equalizer. The Dragons had a pair of shots hit the woodwork in the 86^th and the 87^th minute. Sandwiched between those sequences was a goal by Drexel that was called off due to offsides.
• Drexel earned one final chance to force the match into overtime after earning a corner kick with less than 20 seconds remaining. Bilichuk and the Phoenix held their ground on the set piece to prevent a shot to escape with the 1-0 victory.
 
NOTES
• Bilichuk broke the single-season school record for shutouts with his 11^th clean sheet, surpassing the previous record of 10 held by Clint Irwin '11 and Matthew Jegier '18. The graduate student recorded a pair of saves in the contest.
• Both Rosenblatt and Vesterholm earned their first points of the year with their connection on the Phoenix goal.
• The Phoenix posted its second straight shutout despite being outshot by the opposition for the second straight game. Drexel had a 20-11 advantage in shots over the maroon and gold, a season-high for an opponent. The Dragons also had a 7-1 margin in corners.
 
UP NEXT
The Phoenix will host its first CAA championship final as it welcomes No. 3 seed and defending tournament champion Hofstra to Rudd Field next Saturday, Nov. 12. That match is scheduled for a 12 p.m. kickoff and will be televised on FloFC.