Stony Brook, N.Y.- The Elon Phoenix (12-3-1) opens the CAA Tournament against the College of Charleston (11-3-5) in a first-round game this Thursday in Stony Brook, N.Y. The Phoenix enters the match as the third seed finishing with 21 points, their highest finish in the program's CAA history.   
 
Kickoff from Stony Brook will be at 4 pm.
 
The two teams met earlier this season, and Charleston became just Elon's second loss of the season as the Phoenix fell away in Patriot's Point. Elon has won four of the last five matchups against the Cougars and looks to win their first postseason game since the 2020-21 CAA Tournament final.
 
How to Follow

• Thursday's game with College of Charleston will be streamed on FloFC, and you can watch the game by CLICKING HERE.
• Live stats will be available for the matchup with the Fighting Camels and will be available by CLICKING HERE.
• Live updates will be available on both X and Instagram during the match @ElonWSoccer.

 
The All-Time Series

• Elon is tied in the all-time series with Charleston, 11-11-2.
• The two programs first met in 1999.
• The Phoenix had a four-game winning streak against the Cougars, but that was halted earlier this season when Charleston defeated Elon in Patriot's Point.  

 
Last Time Out

• The Phoenix closed out their regular season with their seventh conference win of the season. A 2-1 win against UNCW put Elon on 21 points.    
• UNCW struck first in the seventh minute to put the Phoenix behind 1-0.
• Elon's first shot came from Kennedy Jones but was off target.
• After a trio of substitutions, the Elon offense began to go. Isa Murdock nearly put the Phoenix in front but her effort in the bottom left corner was saved.
• The Phoenix would not be denied when a ball from Jones found a cutting Ashlee Brehio in behind and she tucked away the finish with a defender draped on her.
• Elon continued to control the second half of the first 45 with another effort from Isa Murdock and spells of possession.
• The second goal would come from Lauren McCauley. A series of key passes from the back going from Rachel Buckle to Gabby Hoschek to Brehio and then McCauley ripped through the Seahawk defense to give Elon the lead.
• The defense was the star in the final 45, with Katie Bisgrove collecting three saves in the second half as the Elon allowed just five shots in the second half all being relatively comfortable for the freshman keeper.

 
Post Season All-Conference

• Sophomore defender Grace Gelhaus along with four other Phoenix were honored with CAA Postseason honors Wednesday afternoon. Gelhaus is the first Phoenix since Abby Fusca in 2022 to be selected to the All-CAA First Team. Kennedy Jones and Gabby Hoschek were selected to the All-CAA Second Team while Rachel Buckle was honored with a Third Team selection. Katie Bisgrove was selected to the All-CAA Rookie Team.
• Gelhaus started a majority of the season at left back after earning All-CAA Third Team and All-Rookie Team last season as a forward. Gelhaus started in 14 of the 16 matches for the Phoenix, playing 1,240 minutes on the pitch. Gelhaus had the game winning assist in Elon's first game of the season against George Mason and scored her first goal of the season on a free kick effort against Hampton.
• Both senior Kennedy Jones and sophomore Gabby Hoschek were honored with All-CAA Second Team honors. Jones set career highs in goals, assists and points while captaining the Phoenix to one of largest wins turnaround in the country. The Charlotte native, helped the Phoenix defense from a holding midfield position, helping Elon become a top three defense in the CAA. Jones finished third on the team in points with eight points in CAA play alone. Hoschek finished second on the team in points including a four-point game against Wofford. Hoschek added a flair to the midfield and scored Elon's opening goal in two CAA wins against Northeastern and Hofstra.
• Rachel Buckle was selected for All-CAA Third Team in her first full-time season on the back line. Buckle played and started in all 16 games while registering the most minutes on the team at 1,387. Katie Bisgrove was Elon's lone All-Rookie selection. Bisgrove appeared in 15 matches, making 13 starts in net for the Phoenix. She finished with a 0.828 save percentage and 0.84 goals allowed average. Bisgrove finished in the top three in the CAA in both categories.

 
About the Phoenix

• The Phoenix returns its top 10 point producers from a season ago including all four double-digit point players: Grace Gelhaus, Lydia Totten, Ashlee Brehio, and Gabby Hoschek.
• The Phoenix returns six players who made at least ten starts a season ago including three key midfielders: Rachel Buckle, Kennedy Jones and Hoschek.  
• Forward Isa Murdock makes her return to the lineup following a redshirted season in 2023. During her first campaign, the Colorado native finished with three goals and two assists.
• Elon's active leading goal scorer Ashlee Brehio following her four-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.
• Elon was projected to finish 11th in the CAA preseason poll.
• In three of the past five 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 seventh season with Elon. Payne enters the season eight wins away from 50 in his head coaching career with the Phoenix.

Youth Movement

• Coach Payne and coach Sean Sandoval brought in another strong recruiting class featuring seven players from around the US and Canada. The class features two goalkeepers, a pair of defenders, two midfielders and a forward.
• 7 of the 28 members are first years while 16 of the members of the squad are still underclassman.
• Two of the sophomores happen to be twins, Maya and Jenna Abousaab. The Abousaab twins are one of just 22 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 last summer.

Payne Adds to Staff

• Elon University women's soccer head coach Neil Payne announced two new additions to its coaching staff earlier this week. Clifton Bush and Jenifer Thomas will both join the staff of the women's soccer program for their upcoming season. 
• Clifton Bush joins the staff after serving as an assistant coach at Bellarmine University in Louisville. Bush has coached both at the collegiate and professional level following a four-year stint in the NWSL. Bush comes to Elon with North Carolina roots, having been the head coach at UNC Asheville from 2019-21. Bush was also an assistant with the Bulldogs for two seasons, working primarily with the goalkeepers.
•  Thomas joins the staff following a stint as youth coach at Real Colorado. She has been at the club since 2010, working with the ECNL and Athletico/Olympico teams. In 2017, she helped lead the U15 Real Colorado Olympico team to the US Youth Soccer National Championships. Thomas strengthens the Colorado connection, joining head coach Neil Payne and Sean Sandoval who both spent time at the club.

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.
• A pair of players come directly from the Real Colorado system with two forwards representing the club. Both senior Lydia Totten and redshirt-sophomore Isa Murdock both come from the club. 
• Another Colorado native is redshirt-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 Jen Thomas. A former standout at Texas Tech and the University of Kansas, Thomas spent time as a youth coach with Real Colorado. She joins Sean Sandoval as the second assistant coach to showcase youth ties with the club.