ELON, N.C. – The Elon University men's soccer team returns to Colonial Athletic Association play this weekend traveling to take on Monmouth this Saturday, Sept. 24. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Hesse Field on the Great Lawn.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW
• Saturday's match will be streamed live on FloFC via a paid subscription.
• Links for the broadcast and live stats can be found on the Elon men's soccer schedule page at elonphoenix.com.
• Other in-game updates will be provided on Twitter by following @ElonMSoccer.
 
THE MATCHUP
• Saturday is the first meeting on the soccer pitch between the two schools with Monmouth in its first year as a member of the CAA.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• The Phoenix suffered a 1-0 setback at the hands of No. 4/7 Duke on Tuesday, Sept. 20, in a nonconference affair at Rudd Field.
• Elon outshot the Blue Devils, 8-7, and had a 4-3 advantage in attempts on target. However, a free kick goal by Duke's Shakur Mohammed in the 56^th minute was the difference in the match.
• Mohammed's goal was the first allowed by the Phoenix after 366 consecutive minutes of action. Of Elon's three goals conceded this season, only one has come on a non set piece.
• The victory improved Duke's all-time ledger over Elon to 14-2-3 in a series going back to 1980.
 
LEHM GARNERS NATIONAL TEAM OF THE WEEK HONORS
• Senior Kasper Lehm was selected to a pair of National Teams of the Week on Tuesday, Sept. 20. The outside back was tabbed to the College Soccer News and Top Drawer Soccer Teams of the Week.
• Lehm was instrumental in helping the Phoenix to a pair of clean sheets on the road at Furman and at Delaware last week. The wins extended Elon's shutout streak to three games while also assisting a maroon and gold defense that had not conceded a goal in 311 minutes of action.
• The Odense, Denmark, native also added three assists on the offensive end in Elon's two wins.
 
OPENING STANZA
• Despite its setback against the Blue Devils, the Phoenix is off to its best start since 2015 at 5-2 overall and is 2-1 in the CAA standings. Elon is also first in the Atlantic Regional rankings.
• Elon is currently first in the CAA in goals per match (1.571), goals-against average (0.43) and has a league-best 1.14 differential margin.
• The Phoenix outshot an opponent for the fifth straight game Tuesday and holds an overall 86-64 advantage in shots over the opposition. Elon also has a 40-22 advantage in shots on goal, hitting the target at a .465 percent clip.
• Netminder Ryan Bilichuk is tied for the national-lead in shutouts with five and is seventh in the country in GAA at 0.43. As a team, Elon is second in the country in shutout percentage at 0.714.
• Mason Duval leads the Phoenix in points (six) and goals (three). The senior striker is third in the CAA with two game-winning goals.
• Scott Vatne is second on the Phoenix in total points (five) and has attempted a CAA-best 23 shots this season. Lehm is tied for the league lead in assists with four.
• The Phoenix is coming off a 9-8-2 ledger during the 2021 fall season and advanced to the CAA Championship final for the first time in school history.
• Elon returns 21 players and seven starters in 2022 including All-CAA performers Kasper Lehm and Jannik Videbaek. The maroon and gold also welcomes back a pair of CAA All-Rookie team players in Calle Edelstam and Scott Vatne.
• Both Lehm and Videbaek were selected to the 2022 Preseason All-CAA team. The Phoenix as a team was tabbed third by the league's head coaches in the 2022 CAA Preseason Poll.
• Three players will don the captain armband for the Phoenix this season. Videbaek joins returning captains Jeppe Jordoson and Marco Vesterholm as the team captains for the 2022 season.
• Elon welcomes eight newcomers to its roster for 2022 – Gustavo Atencio, Ryan Bilichuk, Michael Clow, Myson Darden, Carlos Levy, Majaliwa Msabaha, Sumner Nenninger and Franc Gamiz Quer.
• Marc Reeves is in his sixth season as the head coach of the Phoenix. Through his 12 seasons overall as a head coach, Reeves has posted a career record of 111-80-33.
 
SCOUTING MONMOUTH
• Monmouth is 3-3 on the year after earning a 2-0 win over La Salle on Tuesday. The Hawks are searching for their first CAA points with a 0-3 ledger in league play.
• The Hawks went 8-9-2 overall in 2021 and were 5-5 in their final season in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC).
• Three players have accounted for all of Monmouth's six goals this season. Luke McBeth, Ben Zakowski and Kristian Loenvig have two goals each to pace the squad with McBeth and Zakowski tied for the team-lead in points with five.
• Redshirt freshman Eryk Dymora has manned all the minutes in goal for the Hawks. The Clifton, N.J., native has a GAA of 1.00 with three shutouts and 20 saves.
 
UP NEXT
The Phoenix welcomes fellow Piedmont Triad rival High Point to Rudd Field for a midweek contest on Wednesday, Sept. 28. That contest is scheduled for 7 p.m.