Elon, N.C.- The Elon Phoenix (2-9-5) will return to Rudd Field for their final regular season contest against the College of Charleston Cougars (2-9-5).
 
Elon looks to capitalize and build off a strong finish to the Campbell matchup Thursday night. Lauren McCauley tied the score with just under four seconds left to even the score at one, eliminating the Campbells from CAA Tournament contention.
 
McCauley joins Grace Gelhaus and Gabby Hoschek on the list of freshmen with multiple goals this season. Gelhaus and Hoschek both share the freshman lead with three goals each.
 
How to Follow

• Sunday's game with Charleston will be streamed on FloFC, and you can watch the game by CLICKING HERE.
• Live stats will be available for the matchup with Charleston and will be available by CLICKING HERE.
• Live updates will be available on both X and Instagram during the match @ElonWSoccer.

Last Time Out

• The first ten minutes saw a number of possession changes in the midfield but no real chances for either team.
• The Camels picked up a pair of fouls in the Phoenix attacking half with Elon continuing to press Campbell.
• Rachel Buckle registered the first shot of the game, but it was blocked away by the Fighting Camel defense.
• Grace Gelhaus would produce the first and only shot on goal for either side in the 19^th minute, but it was saved by JLo Varada.
• The two would continue to battle with possession throughout the rest of the first half with Elon registering a majority of the first half possession.
• McKenna Dalfonso would register her first save of the game in the 52^nd, saving a shot on target from Olivia Neal.
• Dalfonso would be called into duty again with a save in the in the 68^th minute with a shot from the foot of Natalie Darling.
• Elon would produce their best two chances up to the 80^th minute when a shot from Kennedy Jones glanced the fingertips of Varada, nearly giving the Phoenix the late lead.
• Another shot on target would come from the head of Katie Lowe. The ball was destined for the bottom right corner, but the shot would be cleared off the line by Kaleigh Backlund.
• The Camels would earn a penalty in the 89^th minute off a foul from Lowe in the box. Amber Liston would convert the penalty to give the Camels the lead.
• With just under 20 seconds, the Phoenix would win a corner kick. Hoschek would swing it into the box, the ball would take a deflection and it found the feet of McCauley would fired it into the top-right corner with just under four seconds left to play.
• Campbell would fire a shot from the halfway line, but it would land short of the goal, giving Elon the point.

The All-Time Series

• Elon and Charleston have played 22 times before they met for Sunday's contest. The Phoenix and Cougars are tied in the all-time series, 10-10-2.  
• Elon has enjoyed four straight victories over the Cougars, with the last loss for the Phoenix coming in 2018.
• In last season's matchup, the Phoenix used a late goal from senior Molly Mahoney to take control and give the Phoenix the lead which they would not relinquish.
• This is the one CAA team that this year's senior class has not lost to, with this team facing Charleston all four years.

Scouting Charleston

• Charleston was projected as the 11^th seed in the CAA Preseason poll.
• The Cougars have followed a tie with a loss over their last six games with the last conference victory coming against Campbell on Sep. 24.
• Charleston was eliminated from postseason contention last Sunday following a draw with William & Mary in Patriot's Point.
• This will be the first road game for the Cougars since Charleston faced Northeastern in Boston more than two and a half weeks ago.
• Charleston has a number of freshmen who have filled up the stat sheet with a pair of first years contributing three goals and three assists each.
• Bella Antonio and Shea Vidovic both have contributed nine points with over half of their total points coming in an 11-1 victory over Hampton.
• Christian Michner is in his 14^th season at the helm of the Cougars.

About the Phoenix

• Elon enters this matchup with Charleston following another winning season and another top-half finish in the CAA a year ago.
• 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.