ELON, N.C. – The Elon University men's soccer team returns to CAA play this weekend as the Phoenix (1-3-2, 0-1-1 CAA) travels to Drexel (3-1-2, 1-1-1 CAA) to take on the Dragons on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 1 p.m. at Vidas Field.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW
• Saturday's game will be streamed on 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
• In a rematch of last year's CAA semifinals contest, the Phoenix and the Dragons are meeting on the pitch for the 10^th time on Saturday. Elon leads the all-time series 6-2-1 since the two became league foes in 2014.
• The two teams last met in the CAA semifinals last fall at Rudd Field with the top-seeded Phoenix advancing with a 1-0 victory over the fifth-seeded Dragons. Ben Rosenblatt scored what proved to be the game-winner for the Phoenix in the 20^th minute while Elon also posted its school-record 11^th shutout.
• Elon is unbeaten in its last three matches against the Dragons at 2-0-1. Saturday will be the Phoenix's first visit to Drexel since the 2018 season when the maroon and gold fell in overtime 3-2.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• Elon dropped a 2-1 contest at South Florida in its most recent contest on Sunday, Sept. 17 amid its three-match road trip. It was the first meeting on the soccer pitch between the Phoenix and the Bulls.
• Victor Stromsten put the Phoenix up with his first goal of the season in the 29^th minute. The senior striker played a through ball from Sam Durand and was able to give the Phoenix a 1-0 opening-stanza advantage.
• South Florida came back with two unanswered goals in the second half to earn the win. The Bulls' Jalen Anderson earned a brace with goals in the 75^th and 81^st minute as Elon fell to 1-3-2 on the season and 0-1-1 on its current three-match road trip.
 
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 118-86-36.
• Scott Vatne leads the Phoenix with two goals so far this season. The Klepp, Norway, native is third in the CAA in shots per match with 3.0 per game and has 11 attempts on goal, which is also third in the league.
• Stromsten became the fifth unique goal scorer for the Phoenix this season with his first on Sunday. He joins Vatne, Myson Draden, Franc Gamiz Quer and Rosenblatt as the members of the squad who have scored for the Phoenix so far in 2023.
• As a team, Elon has attempted 61 shots while opponents have fired 75 shots against the Phoenix. The maroon and gold have 31 shots on target at a 50.8 percent clip.
• Tomasz Wroblewski sits second in the CAA in saves per game at 5.17. The junior has 31 saves in his first six games, also the second-most in the CAA. His 74.3 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 DREXEL
• The Dragons are 3-1-2 on the season while sitting fourth in the CAA standings with a 1-1-1 ledger. Drexel is unbeaten in its past three matches after earning a 1-1 draw at Monmouth last Saturday.
• Drexel went 7-5-6 in 2022 while going 3-3-3 in the CAA to earn the No. 5 seed for the league championship tournament. This year, the Dragons were tabbed to finish seventh in the 2023 CAA Preseason Poll.
• The Dragons have scored 11 goals so far this season while averaging 10.5 shots per game. Drexel has 28 shots on goal so far in 2023 at a 44 percent clip. Individually, freshman Julian Jordheim leads the team with three goals and seven total points. Graduate student Antonio Illuminato has five assists, which is second in the CAA.
• In net, the Dragons' Alessandro Capogna has appeared in five of the six matches for Drexel, posting a 0.67 GAA with 17 saves. The senior has one shutout on the season.
 
UP NEXT
The Phoenix is back on the home pitch at Rudd Field, hosting defending CAA tournament champion Hofstra on Saturday, Sept. 30. That match is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. start time.