Hempstead, N.Y.- The Elon Phoenix (2-7-4) will begin a three-game road trip with a contest against the Hofstra Pride (9-3-1) on Long Island. The Phoenix and Pride last played in 2021 when an overtime goal from Carson Jones lifted Elon to a victory over a nationally ranked Hofstra team.
 
Elon is coming off a 1-1 draw with the Drexel Dragons last Sunday. Ashlee Brehio netted her third goal of the season in the Senior Day tie. Elon now sees themselves with five points in the table with four CAA games remaining.  

How to Follow 

• Thursday's game with Hofstra will be streamed on FloFC and can reached by CLICKING HERE.
• Live stats will be available for the matchup with Hofstra and will be available by CLICKING HERE.
• Live updates will be available on both X and Instagram during the match @ElonWSoccer.

Last Time Out

• Much like in their matchup with Campbell, the Dragons came out firing and tested Dalfonso with a shot on goal in the second minute.
• Ashlee Brehio would find the scoresheet again in the 14^th minute with a superb finish from a Katie Lowe cross. Brehio would leap into the air to meet the cross at its in-the-box apex and fire it into the back of the net.
• Drexel would fire two shots on goal in quick succession with a looping shot from Annalena O'Reilly almost besting Dalfonso from outside of the box. Dalfonso would poke the ball off the bar earning her third save.
• Isabelle Paradoski would test the Dragon goalie with a looping shot from outside the box that kept bending towards the upper left corner of the goal, but it would float out of bounds for a goal kick.
• The next shot on target from either side would take place in the 55^th minute off the foot of Casey Touey but Dalfonso would best her at the near post for the save.
• The Phoenix would get another opportunity off the foot of Lauren McCauley but the shot curved wide of the left post.
• Drexel would equal the score on a free kick from just outside the box. Lily Dunbar would fire the ball low, skirting across the playing surface and finding the foot Elise Duffy who fired it into the top left corner, tying the game at one.
• Duffy would get another opportunity in the 73^rd minute with a shot from the right side of the box, but Dalfonso would push it out for a corner kick.
• Elon had a shot to catch the Dragons napping with the Drexel goalie out of her net for a free kick. The Phoenix would push up the field but a smart defensive play by the Dragons would avoid disaster in the final minutes.

The All-Time Series

• Elon trails the all-time series against Drexel, 2-7-0. 
• Elon started out 0-7 all-time against Hofstra before the Phoenix rattled off two straight victories over the Pride.
• The last matchup saw the Phoenix secure three points against the Pride late in the 2021 season. An overtime winner from Carson Jones saw the Phoenix grab the win by the score of 2-1.
• In the 2021 CAA tournament semifinals, a second-half goal from Claire Broderdorp and seven saves from McKenna Dalfonso earned the Phoenix a 1-0 win.

Scouting Hofstra

• Hofstra was projected to finish 3^rd in the CAA Preseason poll.
• Following an eighth-seeded regular season finish, the Pride would make a miracle run to the CAA Tournament title in 2022. The Pride became the first eight-seed ever to win the CAA Tournament title.
• Entering the 2023 season, Hofstra received three first-place votes, the second most of an CAA side.
• Sophomore midfielder Wiktoria Fronc was selected to the preseason All-CAA team prior to the 2023 season. While fellow midfielder, Dagny Run Peteursdottir was named to the honorable mention team.
• The Pride enter the matchup with the Phoenix having surrendered just 12 goals on the year, which gives them less than one per match.
• Fronc has been their main offensive threat this season, as she leads the Pride in both goals and assists.
• Sasha McTiffin and Olivia Pearse have both contributed three goals to the Hofstra attack.
• Hofstra enters the matchup with Elon with a 6-1-1 conference record having bested Northeastern and Hampton over the past 10 days.

About the Phoenix

• Elon enters this matchup with Delaware following another winning season and another top-half finish in the CAA.
• Elon is coming off their best offensive performance in Division I history against Hampton, scoring nine goals against the Lady Pirates.
• Elon put five past the Lady Pirates in just 14 minutes and would not look back.
• Ashlee Brehio collected three assists in the game, the most by a Phoenix since 2011 and the first of her career.
• Lydia Totten notched her first goal since her freshman season against Towson which gave the Phoenix the early 1-0 lead.
• Against Wofford, Gabby Hoschek became the first Phoenix to score two goals in one game since Carson Jones bagged two against Furman in the 2021 season.
• The three freshman goals are the most combined first-year goals since Elon first years combined for three against Hampton in 2019 in an 8-0 victory over the Pirates.
• The Phoenix returns seven players who made at least ten starts a season ago including three defenders: Katie Lowe, Olivia McManes and Kerri Coffman.
• The midfield trio of Isa Murdock, Rachel Buckle and Kennedy Jones who combined for 44 starts a season ago all return.
• Elon's leading goal scorer Ashlee Brehio following her six-goal season a year ago returns as well. Brehio who was selected to TopDrawer Top 100 Freshman List for her efforts as a first year. 
• The Phoenix claimed two spots on the CAA preseason honorable mention team with junior midfielder Kennedy Jones claiming a spot as well as senior goalie McKenna Dalfonso.
• Elon was projected to finish sixth in the CAA preseason poll, the second straight year the Phoenix have been slotted at sixth by the coaches.
• In three of the past four seasons, the Phoenix have exceeded preseason predictions. Not only winning the CAA title in 2020-21, but in 2019 when the Phoenix were predicted to finish ninth and reached the CAA Tournament semifinals.
• Phoenix head coach Neil Payne enters his sixth season with Elon. Over the past three full seasons, the Phoenix have averaged over nine wins a season including 18 combined victories over the last two years.
• Following her three-goal opening week, freshman Gabby Hoschek was awarded with CAA Rookie of the Week honors.
• Hoschek opened her Elon scoring account with a two-goal performance against Howard, then put a goal past Caroline Doss of Wofford to extend the Elon lead in a 3-0 Phoenix win.
• Hoschek is the first Phoenix to be awarded Rookie of the Week since Lydia Totten earned the honor in 2021.

Youth Movement

• Coach Payne and Coach Olivia Mills bring in a strong recruiting class that is 11 players strong. The first years come from all over and fill a variety of holes from a Phoenix roster that saw a number of key contributors graduate.
• 11 of the 26 members are first years while 16 of the members of the squad are still underclassman.
• Two of the freshmen happen to be twins, Maya and Jenna Abousaab. The Abousaab twins are one of just 18 pairs of twins in NCAA Division I women's soccer.
• The class of 2027 features two local Raleigh products in Iliana Pardo and Gabby Hoschek. Pardo hailing from Leesville Road High School has represented the Puerto Rican U-20 women's national team. Hoschek started every match for her USL W-League team, Wake FC, tallying four goals and two assists.

Colorado Connection

• For over a decade, Head Coach Neil Payne was the technical director for Real Colorado SC and has kept strong ties with the club. Payne has created a recruiting pipeline for the Phoenix and this year's roster is ripe with Colorado talent.
• Three players come directly from the Real Colorado system with one player representing a different position on the field. Junior forward Lydia Totten, sophomore midfielder Isa Murdock and freshman defender Morgan Juran all played club for the team.
• Another Colorado native is freshman Ava Werner, who spent her time with the Colorado Rush on the Girl's Academy circuit. Werner hails from Boulder, Colo.
• Most recently, the Phoenix announced an addition to the coaching staff in Sean Sandoval. A former standout defender for Georgia Southern in his collegiate days, he had been coached by Payne in his youth career before becoming a coach at Real Colorado. Sandoval now enters his first season in North Carolina with the Phoenix.

 Backline Veterans

• The backline for the Phoenix features a quartet of veterans in defense and two in net.
• Senior Katie Lowe is a two-time preseason all-conference honoree and has started every game as a defender during her Phoenix career. She is joined at the back by a pair of seniors in Emilia Cappellett and Kerri Coffman. The two combined for 18 starts a year ago and were selected as team captains.
• In net brings a pair of upper classmen in senior McKenna Dalfonso and junior Anna Hamner. Dalfonso, a preseason all-conference selection, has numerous defensive player of the week honors and finished last season with seven shutouts, the most by an Elon goalkeeper since 2009. Dalfonso ranks second all-time in program history with 19 career shutouts. 

Preseason All-Conference

• Elon goalkeeper McKenna Dalfonso and midfielder Kennedy Jones were selected to the CAA preseason all-conference team. Both players received honorable mention honors.
• Dalfonso was one of three goalkeepers named to the preseason list and Jones joins her sister Carson as the only Phoenix sisters to both receive all-conference selections.
• Dalfonso already has her named littered all over the Phoenix record book. She enters the season second in career shutouts (19) while being top-10 in minutes, games played, and goalkeeper games played. She has made 128 career saves and allowed just 1.10 goals per game.
• Jones has been a staple of the Phoenix midfield since her freshman season. She has appeared in 32 career games and made 16 starts alone last season. She helped the Phoenix to six shutouts and scored two goals last during the 2022 season.

Up Next

• Elon will continue their trip on to Long Island with a matchup against the Stony Brook Sea Wolves on Sunday afternoon. That match will kick off at 1 P.M.