BUIES CREEK, N.C. – After 88 minutes of play Thursday night, the Elon University women's soccer team's game against Campbell stood scoreless. Suddenly, a loud whistle filled the air as a Campbell player sat on the ground in the Elon penalty box.
The Phoenix had been called for a foul with just under two minutes remaining. Elon's players surrounded the referee to plead their case but it was to no avail. Campbell scored on the ensuing penalty kick to make the score 1-0 and seemingly secure a win.
However, Elon did not go down quietly. Freshman Lauren McCauley and her teammates pushed the ball up the field and used their frustrations from the penalty to their advantage.
"We were honestly mad at the call so we took that anger and turned it into adrenaline and fury," McCauley said. "We just wanted to score and tie it up because ball don't lie"
As seconds ticked off the clock, the ball was forced out of bounds by Campbell for an Elon corner kick with less than a minute to play. As goalkeeper McKenna Dalfonso sprinted up the field to give the Phoenix an extra attacker, freshman Gabby Hoschek rushed to the corner flag to take the kick as Phoenix fans held their breath, not even sure if she would get the kick off before the horn.
Hoschek took the kick as the public address announcer counted down the final 10 seconds of the match. The ball bounced off the chest of the Campbell defender who was unable to fully clear it, as McCauley stepped up and fired a shot.
The ball sailed over the cluster of heads and into the far right side of the goal to tie the game with 3.8 seconds on the clock. Elon's entire bench ran to surround McCauley as the team celebrated an unfathomable goal.
"We had been working on corners for the past week," McCauley said. "[I] just looked to get the second ball and whenever I saw the ball come down to my feet, I just knew I had to hit it cause he [coach Payne] has been telling me to just hit the ball. I just kicked it and hoped it went in."
The final seconds ran off the clock as Elon's players once again ran together to celebrate a strong performance in their final road game of the season.
"It feels good," McCauley said. "We're trying to end the season strong so that we can come back better next season."
The Elon women's soccer team will play its final game of 2023 against the College of Charleston on Oct. 22, with the match at Rudd Field starting at 2 p.m.
'Rising Phoenix' is a new student-led initiative to cover Elon Athletics. Through innovative content creation and storytelling, Elon University students will have the opportunity to highlight the moments, people and events that make an impact, leveraging the athletic department's various web and social media platforms for distribution. Follow Rising Phoenix on Twitter (@EURisingPhoenix) and Instagram (@elonrisingphoenix). Interested in joining this initiative as a content creator (video, graphics, writing, storytelling, or more)? Contact Jacob Kisamore at jkisamore@elon.edu.
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