Elon, N.C.- The Elon Phoenix (1-4-2) will welcome back former head coach Chris Neal and the UNCW Seahawks (3-5) for a Thursday night matchup. The Phoenix is looking to bounce back following two close losses at Rudd Field to Towson and Northeastern.
 
Lydia Totten was a constant bright spot over the first two CAA games. Totten found the net in both matchups, giving the Phoenix a lead against Towson and igniting a furious comeback effort that fell short against Northeastern.
 
Elon is 2-3-1 all-time against Chris Neal who has headed the Seahawks since 2018. One of the Phoenix wins proved to be one of the most pivotal wins in program history. The last victory came in the 2021 spring CAA championship game when the Phoenix bested the Seahawks in a 1-0 win to give Elon their first Division I conference tournament title.
 
How to Follow
 

• Thursday's game with UNCW will be streamed on FloFC and can reached by CLICKING HERE.  
• Live stats will be available for the matchup with UNCW 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 Huskies got started fast and Katherine Marchesseault found the back of the net from a corner kick. The ball would bounce around in the box but would find the foot of the defender following a deflection off a number of Phoenix heads.
• Dalfonso would be tested again by the preseason player of the year, Vivian Akyirem, but would best the Ghanian's longshot.
• The Phoenix' first shot of the afternoon came from Jordan Green but her attempt was snuffed out by the veteran Husky keeper.
• Katie Lowe would be booked in the 19^th minute following a tough challenge and would have to play the last 70 minutes with a booking.
• The teams would trade off-target shots for the rest of the first half, with no clear-cut chances coming for either side.
• The Phoenix would start the second half with a number of early chances from Grace Gelhaus and Isabelle Paradoski.
• Megan Putvinski would be subbed on in the 58^th minute and less than a minute later would double the Huskies' lead with a goal sliding in front of Olivia McManes and finding the bottom left corner to give Northeastern a 2-0 lead.
• Elon would have more opportunities in the second half, the next clear chance again from Jordan Green would be saved by Holland Stam.
• Lauren McCauley would answer with a shot on goal of her own, but she would also be bested by Stam.
• After a trio of shots blocked by the Huskies, and a shot that was deflected out of play, the Phoenix would find the goal when a corner from Gelhaus took one bounce and found the head of Katie Lowe, who headed the ball towards the back stick finding Lydia Totten. Totten headed the ball into the open goal and the lead was down to one.
• The Phoenix would get one final shot in the 89^th minute when the ball found Rachel Buckle in the right corner of the 18-yard box, but the shot would go high and wide. Northeastern would hold on to win the match, 2-1.

 
 
The All-Time Series
 

• Elon trails the all-time series with the Seahawks 2-15-1.
• Elon's first victory over the Seahawks came in 2019 with a 3-1 victory at Rudd Field. Jessica Carrieri found the back of the net twice in the win while Taylor Paradoski provided an 80th minute game-winning goal.
• The Phoenix would take down the Seahawks in the 2021 CAA championship game, 1-0. An 82^nd minute goal from Carson Jones would give the Phoenix the lead and ultimately the win to secure Elon's first women's soccer DI conference title.
• Neil Payne has a record of 2-4-1 against UNCW with both wins being the only wins against the Seahawks.
• Before Neil Payne's arrival, the Phoenix were 0-12 all-time against UNCW.

 
Scouting UNCW
 

• Following a rough start and finish to non-conference play, the Seahawks have gotten off to a hot start in CAA play, winning two of their first three conference matches.
• With a 2-1 record in the CAA, the Seahawks used seven goals to steamroll past Hampton then used an 88^th minute goal to seal a 1-0 victory over the College of Charleston.
• UNCW lost 12 seniors from a season ago, but a consistent up top has been Kayla Burroughs. Burroughs leads the team in points and goals, with all three goals coming in the last two matches. The Asheboro native finished last season with eight goals with two coming against the Phoenix last season.
• Chris Neal's squad went 0-4 to start the year but has triumphed in three of their last four games.
• UNCW was picked ninth in the CAA preseason poll with Kayla Burroughs making the preseason all-CAA team. Defender Makaya Parham was selected to the honorable mention team.

 
About the Phoenix
 

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

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 is tied for the all-time Phoenix lead with 20 shutouts in her career.

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 hit the road for two straight road games beginning with a trip to the Commonwealth to William & Mary. Following the matchup with the Tribe, Elon will make up their match with Monmouth on Tuesday for a 1 P.M. kickoff with the Hawks.