Elon, N.C.- The No.1 Elon Phoenix (10-6-1) will host the No. 4 Hofstra Pride (12-4-2) in the 2024 CAA Men's Soccer Championship Semifinals Sunday afternoon. The Phoenix and the Pride will meet for the third time in four CAA Tournaments with the Phoenix meeting Pride in the finals in both 2021 and 2022.
 
The Elon Phoenix clinched the CAA Regular Season title and home field advantage in the CAA Tournament with a win over the Campbell Camels last Saturday. Elon clinched their second CAA Regular Season title in three seasons, finishing at the top of the table with 18 points.  
 
Kickoff with the Pride on Sunday will be at 2 pm.
 
How to Follow

• Sunday's game with the Pride will be streamed on FloFC, and you can watch the game by CLICKING HERE.
• Live stats will be available for the matchup with the Pride and will be available by CLICKING HERE.
• Live updates will be available on both X and Instagram during the match @ElonMSoccer.

 
The All-Time Series

• This will be the 13^th meeting all-time between the Phoenix and the Pride with Elon trailing the series, 1-10-1.
• The Phoenix fell to the Pride, 2-1, on the road earlier this season.
• Elon has faced off with the Pride in two of the last three CAA tournament finals, with Hofstra taking both games against Elon.
• Elon's lone win against Hofstra came in 2022 in the programs' last matchup at Hofstra Soccer Stadium.
• Three second half goals from the Phoenix including a pair from Scott Vatne and Victor Stromsten gave Elon the 3-1 edge over the Pride. The result helped Elon clinch a postseason berth and the 2022 CAA Regular Season title.

 
Last Time Out

• The Phoenix triumphed over the Campbell Camels, 2-1 last Saturday to clinch the CAA men's soccer regular season title.
• Elon had chances in the first ten minutes with Elon having two free kicks in the attacking third and a corner kick, but the efforts were snuffed out by the Camels.
• The Phoenix defense was able to handle early pressure from Campbell, forcing goal kicks and off target shots.
• The first shot on goal from the Camels came from the outside of the box but was comfortably saved by Tomasz Wroblewski.
• Both teams began exchanging fouls in the midfield before Elon put their first shot on goal in the 29^th from a Scott Vatne free kick.
• Vatne would find himself at the top of the box with a free kick chance in the 41^st minute. Set up by Calle Edelstam, Vatne unleased a shot that went bar-down and found itself in the back of the net to give the Phoenix a 1-0 lead going into the halftime break.
• The second 45 began similarly to the first with Elon grabbing a corner kick early and the midfield of each team struggling for possession.
• Campbell increased their chances with added offensive pressure, but the backline continued to hold firm with a 1-0 lead.
• Elon took a spell of possession in the 67^th minute and made it count. After a shot from Ryan Manna was blocked, the ball found the feet of Connor Mucchetti. Mucchetti faked a shot, put the ball on his left foot and found the bottom right corner to give Elon a 2-0 lead.
• Campbell piled on the pressure trying to find a goal and found one from a free kick with just over 12 minutes to play.
• In the final 12 minutes, Elon was able to see the game out to leave Buies Creek with a CAA Regular Season Championship trophy.

 
Postseason Praise

• The Elon men's soccer program took home two major awards and five All-CAA selections as part of the All-CAA Men's Soccer announcement released by the conference Wednesday. Senior midfielder Scott Vatne was awarded the CAA Men's Soccer Player of the Year award by the CAA and head coach Marc Reeves was selected as the league's Coach of the Year. Vatne was also the lone Elon player selected to the First Team while four Phoenix were selected to the Second Team.
• Marc Reeves was selected as the CAA Coach of the Year for the second time in three seasons. Reeves led the Phoenix to their second CAA Regular Season title in three seasons and the number one overall seed in the CAA Men's Soccer Championship.
• Four different Elon players were selected to the All-CAA Second Team in 2024. Graduate forward Victor Stromsten was selected to the Second Team after a four goal, six assist regular season. Stromsten was selected to the Preseason All-CAA team prior to the season and set a new season high in assists, finishing tied for sixth in the CAA in that category. Stromsten secured a hat trick in Elon's second home match of the year against Radford. He scored two goals in the first 70 seconds and put away a second half goal to secure the first Phoenix hat trick since 2018.
• Despite playing in just eight games, junior forward Colin Veltri was selected to the All-CAA Second Team. Veltri's impact was felt early in the season, helping Elon to their best start in more than a decade at 7-0-1. Veltri put in six goals and assisted three times in those eight games. He became the first player under Coach Reeves to put in a 15-point season and did it all in less than ten games. Through the first eight games, Veltri had a goals scored streak reaching five games, including two goals in Elon's comeback win over Delaware.
• Charlie Kitch was selected as one of four defenders on the All-CAA Second Team. Kitch played a crucial role at center back, starting in all 15 games he appeared in. Kitch registered two goals and an assist with both of his goals coming from corner kicks. He assisted on Scott Vatne's game winning goal in Elon's season opening win against Florida Gulf Coast.
• Tomasz Wroblewski was selected as the All-CAA Second Team goalkeeper. Wroblewski started all 17 games in goal for the Phoenix making 60 saves with three shutouts. Wroblewski compiled a record of 10-6-1 on the season. His 13 saves against Wake Forest were the most by a Phoenix goalkeeper in Elon's Division I history. He ranks second in the CAA in saves and ranks eighth nationally in goalie minutes played.

 
Top Drawer Recognition

• Earlier this season, Elon was ranked in three straight Top Drawer Soccer rankings reaching the top-10 in September.
• Elon has been laced with preseason honors to several players with Scott Vatne and Tomasz Wroblewski being named to the Top Drawer Soccer Preseason Top 100 players list.
• The Phoenix was the lone club in the CAA with multiple players on the Top 100 list with Hofstra being the only other CAA school with a player mentioned.
• This was the first time Elon had two players listed on the preseason list since Elon joined the CAA ten years ago.
• Victor Stromsten was selected to the Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week this past week for his performances against both Radford and Coastal Carolina.
• Tomasz Wroblewski was named to the Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week after a 13-save performance against Wake Forest.

 
Scouting Hofstra

• The Pride  were predicted to finish first with nine first place votes in the preseason CAA poll. The Pride enters the semifinals as the four-seed.
• Pierre Infuso was selected to the All-CAA First Team as well as being selected as the CAA Preseason Player of the Year.
• Hofstra sits at 12-4-2 overall and their 15 points in the CAA table sat them at fourth place.
• In their most recent outing, the Pride used an olympico finish to take down the College of Charleston, 3-2 on Thursday night at Rudd Field in double overtime.  
• Jacob Woznicki leads the way with eight goals for the Pride as well as leading the team in points with 20.
• Filippo Dadone has minded the net for all 18 games for the Pride and allowed 1.17 goals per match.
• Richard Nuttall is in his 36^th year as the head coach at Hofstra and is coming off his third straight CAA Tournament title.