ELON, N.C. – The Elon University men's soccer team returns to CAA play this weekend as the Phoenix (1-6-2, 0-3-1 CAA) heads to Northeastern (3-4-3, 1-2-2 CAA) for a matchup on Saturday, Oct. 7. The contest will kick off at 1 p.m. at Parsons Field.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW
• Saturday's game will be streamed on the FloFC via a paid subscription.
• Live stats will also be available for fans to follow along with live updates on Twitter/X at @ElonMSoccer.
 
THE MATCHUP
• The Phoenix and the Huskies will meet for the 12^th time on the soccer pitch in a series that dates back to 2013. Elon holds a 6-3-2 advantage over the Huskies all-time and is 1-1-1 at Northeastern.
• The Huskies took a 2-1 win over the Phoenix last season at Rudd Field in Elon's CAA opener. Both teams traded penalty kick goals in the opening half, but a goal by the Huskies in the 47^th minute proved to be the game-winner.
• Elon's last win over Northeastern came in the 2021 semifinal round of the CAA Tournament. Scott Vatne converted a penalty kick in the 74^th minute to give the Phoenix a 1-0 win to advance to its first-ever CAA championship final.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• The Phoenix played North Carolina at Chapel Hill, N.C., on Tuesday, Oct. 3 in a non-conference matchup. Despite outshooting the Tar Heels in the opening half, 4-2, UNC would take a 2-0 decision over the Phoenix.
• The Tar Heels held a slight 9-8 advantage in shots and shots on target, 4-3. The Phoenix edged North Carolina in corners 5-4.
• The Phoenix's first shot on goal in the match came in the 24^th minute. Jack Dolk made a run down the right side while being able to free himself from the defender. The senior's attempt was stopped by the keeper as the Phoenix and Tar Heels remained scoreless after one period.
• The Tar Heels broke through with the first goal of the match on a penalty kick in the 65th minute. Quenzi Huerman took the stop that was deflected by netminder Tomasz Wroblewski, but the ball was still able to get through for the first goal of the game.
• Elon nearly leveled the match in the 75th minute. The Phoenix drew another corner that was sent into the near post to Luca Erhardt. Erhardt was able to get a great touch on the ball, but UNC was able to make the save.
 
OPENING STANZA
• The Phoenix is in its seventh season under head coach Marc Reeves. Through his 13 seasons as a head coach, Reeves has posted an overall record of 118-89-36.
• Vatne leads the Phoenix with two goals so far this season. The Klepp, Norway, native is fifth in the CAA in shots per match with 2.56 per game and has 11 attempts on goal, which is ninth in the league.
• Elon has had five unique goal-scorers this season. Outside of Vatne, Myson Darden, Franc Gamiz Quer, Ben Rosenblatt and Victor Stromsten are the other members of the squad who have scored for the Phoenix so far in 2023.
• As a team, Elon has attempted 88 shots while opponents have fired 108 shots against the Phoenix. The maroon and gold has 38 shots on target at a 43.2 percent clip.
• Wroblewski sits second in the CAA in saves per game at 4.44. The junior has 40 saves in his first eight games, tied for the second-most in the CAA. His 70.2 save percentage is in the top 10 in the league.
• Elon returns 20 players and six starters in 2023 including returning All-CAA performers in Gamiz Quer, Vatne and Majaliwa Msabaha. The trio was recognized on the 2023 Preseason All-CAA team along with newcomer Luca Erhardt.
• Three players will don the captain armband for the Phoenix this season. Gamiz Quer and Msabaha will join senior Ben Rosenblatt as captains for the 2023 campaign.
• Elon welcomes eight newcomers to its roster for 2023 – Erhardt, Joachim Blomsterberg, Nick Buchholz, Jake Chilton, Jahmir Flowers, August Guinle, Nate Kennedy, JP Quigley, Eddy Righetti, Isak Sedin, Jordin Wilson and Tomasz Wroblewski.
• Erhardt arrives to the Phoenix as a transfer from James Madison. During his time with the Dukes, the Offenbach, Germany, native was a first team All-CAA member in his last played season in 2021 at JMU after scoring a team-high nine goals and an assist for 19 points while starting 17 games.
• The Phoenix also added Tony Falvino as the program's new associate head coach in the spring of 2023. Falvino arrives to Elon after spending the past two seasons as an assistant coach at Mercer. During his time with the Bears, Falvino helped the program to a Southern Conference Tournament title and an NCAA Tournament appearance. Prior to his time at Mercer, Falvino served as the head coach at his alma mater at Greensboro College for six seasons. Under his guidance, the Pride compiled an overall record of 75-29-4 and a conference record of 49-10-3.
 
SCOUTING NORTHEASTERN
• The Huskies are 3-4-3 overall on the season and are 1-2-2 during league play which is currently sixth in the standings. Northeastern is coming off a 3-0 setback versus New Hampshire on Tuesday, extending its winless streak to four.
• After going 6-9-3 in 2022, the Huskies were tabbed to finish fifth in the 2023 CAA Preseason Poll.
• Northeastern has scored 13 goals in its 10 games this season while averaging 10.4 shots per match. Individually, Fraser Brown leads the team with four goals while being tied for the team lead in points with eight. Federico Tellez also has eight points with a team-high six assists while Jack Monte is second on the squad with three goals.
• Gregor Shaw has played all 10 games in goal for the Huskies. He has a GAA of 1.20 with 26 saves and a pair of shutouts.
 
PRESEASON PRAISE
• Graduate student defender Franc Gamiz Quer and junior midfielder Scott Vatne have garnered some preseason honors ahead of the 2023 season. Gamiz Quer and Vatne were both selected to the Defender and Midfielder Watch List, respectively, by the United Soccer Coaches Association. The duo was also named to the 2023 Preseason All-CAA team.
• On Thursday, Aug. 24, both players were added to the 2023 Hermann Trophy Watch List by the Missouri Athletic Club (MAC). 
 
UP NEXT
Elon travels to Duke for an intrastate matchup against the Blue Devils on Tuesday, Oct. 10. That match is scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff at Koskinen Stadium.