Elon, N.C.- Following a 0-0 draw to the Longwood Lancers last Thursday, the Elon Phoenix (1-0-2) return to the pitch to take on the No.12/13 South Carolina Gamecocks (3-0-1). The Phoenix have gone through their first three games unbeaten for the first time since 2018, when Elon also began the year with a 1-0-2 record.
 
The Phoenix and Gamecocks have met once before during the Spring 2021 season at Rudd Field. Elon would fall 3-0 in that matchup before running off four straight shutout victories to win their first CAA title and clinching their second NCAA Tournament berth.
 
Against Longwood, the Elon defense pitched their second shutout of the young season. This marks 223 consecutive minutes without surrendering a goal. McKenna Dalfonso also etched her name further into the Elon history books following the draw. Dalfonso has now tied Heather Kline's record for most career shutouts with 20, a record that has stood for more than three decades.
 
How to Follow
 

• Thursday's game with South Carolina will be streamed on SEC Network+ and can reached by CLICKING HERE.
• Live stats will be available for the matchup with South Carolina 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 Phoenix and Lancers traded chances early with both sides forcing saves out of the opposing goalies within the first ten minutes. The first Phoenix chance came on a long-range effort from Buckle that skipped into the arms of Levush.
• At the 17-minute mark, Degnan was subbed on for the Phoenix and was able to make an impact with her speed. Degnan was get a shot on goal that was saved in the center of the goal.
• The first half continued to be a back-and-forth contest with each team holding the ball for limited stretches of time before a turnover or an aerial battle.
• Elon began the second half with an immediate chance from Degnan that was blocked with the Lancer defense.
• Elon would continue to put the pressure on Levush with shots from Ashlee Brehio and then a strong effort from Grace Gelhaus. Gelhaus found her way on the left side and attempted the shot from a tight angle, but the shot made its way toward the roof of the net before it found the fingertips of Levush.
• The teams would then enter a ping-pong match of back-and-forth soccer exchanging both possession and time in the offensive side of the field.
• The closest change for Longwood came with ten seconds left. Following a foul plus a booking on Gabby Hoschek, Longwood's Meghan Piazza lined up a free kick from just outside the box. The ball careened off the crossbar and over the top of the goal as time expired shortly after.

The All-Time Series
 

• Elon is 0-1-0 all time against the University of South Carolina. The previous matchup came during the 2021 spring season at Rudd Field.
• South Carolina would prevail in that matchup against the Phoenix by a 3-0 score line. Both McKenna Dalfonso and Katie Lowe played 90 minutes in the matchup while Lydia Totten and Isabelle Paradoski both saw action against the Gamecocks.   
   

Scouting South Carolina
 

• South Carolina returns a veteran team to the Stone Stadium surface featuring 19 returning players. The defense brings back 10 players including all four goalkeepers. While the offense returns nine, featuring their top-three goal scorers from a year ago.
• The Gamecocks will return to Columbia to face the Phoenix following a two-game road trip to the northeast where they battled both Boston College and UMASS-Lowell. The Boston College game proved to be a back-and-forth contest with South Carolina prevailing by the score of 3-2. The Gamecocks showed class and poise in the 2-0 victory over UMASS-Lowell as Heather Hinz earned another shutout.
• Attacker Catherine Barry was among the few named to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List prior to the 2023 season. Barry ranks top-five in Gamecock history in goals, points, game winning goals, and shots.
• Last season, the Gamecocks reached as high as No. 4 in the national rankings before eventually falling out of the top-25. SC caught fire down the stretch of last season and rattled off five straight victories to end the year, including three straight in the SEC Tournament. The Gamecocks ran through Ole Miss, Georgia and Alabama in six days, to win the SEC Tournament and earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
• South Carolina would advance to the Sweet-16 where they would fall to an Elon neighbor in the Duke Blue Devils by the score of 2-1 in Durham.
• Head Coach Shelley Smith enters her 23^rd season with Gamecocks in 2023. With the Gamecocks, she has amassed 297 career wins and features a lone College Cup Appearance with South Carolina in 2017.

 
About the Phoenix
 

• Elon enters this matchup with South Carolina following another winning season and another top-half finish in the CAA.
• 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.

CAA Honors
 

• 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
 

• The Phoenix will return to Rudd Field for a matchup with the UNCG Spartans. Elon looks to continue their winning ways at home, as they search for a sixth straight home shutout. Kickoff for the matchup with the Spartans will be at 7 P.M.