Elon, N.C.- Following three games in a five-day span, the Elon Phoenix (1-6-3) women's soccer team will host the Hampton Pirates (0-11) Thursday night. Elon returns home after battling two squads that are unbeaten in CAA play, William & Mary and Monmouth.
 
Elon returns to Rudd Field with one point in the CAA table, six points out of the final playoff spot. Elon has begun their conference campaign by playing five of the top six teams, with the next four contests coming against teams in the bottom half of the table.
 
The Phoenix youth of Morgan Juran on the back line and Gabby Hoschek in the midfield have proven to be current contributors and future stars in the league with Juran and Hoschek both featuring heavily in the previous five matches.
 
How to Follow
 

• Thursday's game with Hampton will be streamed on FloFC and can reached by CLICKING HERE.
• Live stats will be available for the matchup with Hampton 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 had to make some early adjustments with the quick subs of Olivia McManes and Emilia Cappellett within the first eight minutes.
• The first shot on goal of the match would come from Monmouth's Lauren Bruno who fired an effort for the top left but was snuffed out by goalie McKenna Dalfonso.
• The teams would trade possession in the midfield throughout the first half with Monmouth controlling much of the game in their attacking half.
• Elon would come out firing after taking on pressure from the Hawks. The first shot on target for Elon would come from Gabby Hoschek in the 34^th minute. The Phoenix would have their best chance of the game just two minutes later when Gelhaus cut in on her left foot on the right side of the box and forced a great, glove save from Cassandra Coster.
• Following the corner kick, Elon would register another shot on goal from Kennedy Jones that would again be saved by the Monmouth keeper.
• Monmouth would start the second half with a number of shots, many were blocked by the Phoenix front line with Katie Lowe and Kerri Coffman stepping in front of a number of attempts.
• Jones would be booked in the 59^th minute following a tough challenge, but the spot kick would lead to nothing immediate from the Hawks.
• Monmouth would muster up a chance in the 69^th minute that would ultimately give them the victory. Freshman Loren Gehret would find the back of the net with her left foot shooting across goal to beat Dalfonso and give the match its only goal.
• Elon would finish the match with some opportunities to break through, but both the weather and Monmouth's backline proved to be too much near the end of the match and the Hawks would prevail by a 1-0 score line.

 
The All-Time Series
 

• Elon leads the all-time series with Hampton, 2-0.
• The Phoenix and Pirates first met back in 2019 as non-conference opponents. The Phoenix would travel to Hampton and leave with an 8-0 victory over the Pirates.
• Elon would put six goals passed the Pirates in just the first half; this is the most goals scored in a half by the Phoenix under Neil Payne. The eight goals would be the most for a Neil Payne coached team at Elon.
• Seven different players would score a goal for Elon, which is also a record under Neil Payne.
• In their first CAA matchup a year ago, the Phoenix came out with a 2-0 win over the Pirates. Goals by Abby Fusca and Ashlee Brehio would put the Phoenix over the top in their second ever matchup with Hampton.

 
Scouting Hampton
 

• Hampton was projected to finish 13^th in the CAA in the preseason poll.
• The Pirates enter the game with the Phoenix without a win. They enter the matchup on a 21-game winless streak with their last victory came against South Carolina State on Sep. 13, 2022.
• Alexis Deveaux leads the nation in saves with 104. She has 25 more saves than the second-place keeper. She has more saves than any team in the CAA and has 70 more saves than the next closest keeper in conference.
• Deveaux has five games with ten or more saves and she has given up at least five goals in her last five outings.
• The main offensive threat for the Pirates is Bowie, Md. Native Sanaa Perry. The freshman leads the team in goals and points with two and four respectively. Perry scored in back-to-back contests against Saint Peter's and Mount St. Mary's.

 
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.
• 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 continue CAA play following the Hampton match, with two straight home matches against CAA competition. The Phoenix will welcome Delaware next Thursday then host Drexel on Senior Day at Rudd Field.