Elon, N.C.- The Elon Phoenix (5-0) look to continue their hot streak this Saturday as they continue CAA play against the Delaware Blue Hens (4-1-1), on the road Saturday afternoon. Elon heads into the match ranked 13^th in Top Drawer Soccer's NCAA Top 25 list as well as 20^th in the United Soccer Coaches Poll.  
 
In their last outing, Elon earned an impressive win over the Drexel Dragons, with Scott Vatne taking charge by scoring twice off two set pieces. Elon looks to collect six points from their first two games Saturday against the Blue Hens.
 
How to Follow

• Saturday's game with Delaware will be streamed on FloFC, and you can watch the game by CLICKING HERE.
• Live stats will be available for the matchup with the Blue Hens 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 9^th meeting all-time between the Phoenix and the Blue Hens with the first matchup starting off the series in 2014.
• Elon last played Delaware in 2022 and won 2-0 against the Blue Hens on the road.
• In the last matchup at Rudd Field, Elon rose again to beat the Blue Hens 1-0 in a hard-fought battle. The Phoenix have battled the Blue Hens in their past two matchups at Rudd Field in a trade-off of 1-0 wins and losses.

 
Last Time Out

• The Phoenix claimed a 3-1 win over Drexel Saturday afternoon at Rudd Field.
• Elon started off strong as within seconds, Ryan Manna was taken down in the box, drawing a penalty kick within 30 seconds of kickoff.
• Scott Vatne puts the penalty kick away with ease to give the Phoenix an early lead.
• The scoring streak was kept alive with an additional early goal, exactly a minute later as a ball played into the box by Victor Stromsten, found Colin Veltri who hit a first-time shot into the bottom left corner.  Elon gets a 2-0 lead less than 90 seconds into the match.
• Drexel would come out swinging after conceding two goals with a spell of chances and possession.
• The Dragons would capitalize on their opportunities, finding the back of the net to halve the Elon deficit with 13 minutes to go in the first 45.
• Coming out of the locker room, Elon regained the momentum with the play of Jordin Wilson and Jahmir Flowers providing some speed off the bench.
• After a yellow card infraction on the Dragons, Vatne stepped up to take a free kick from 25 yards out. Vatne curled a shot that began curving away from the keeper and snuck in under the crossbar to fire the Phoenix back up two.
• The teams continued to trade possessions and free kicks as the game began to get more physical as Drexel tried to get back into the game. The Phoenix was able to absorb the pressure until Elon busted through on a counterattack. Vatne was one-on-one with the keeper but was dragged down from behind. After the foul, a red card was awarded which forced the Dragons to play with 10 men.
• After the red card, Elon peppered the goal with shots after swarms of possession and the Phoenix saw out the game claiming a 3-1 victory

 
Preseason Praise

• Senior Scott Vatne and graduate Victor Stromsten were both selected to the All-CAA preseason team while junior Majaliwa Msabaha was an honorable mention. Stromsten makes his first appearance on an All-CAA preseason list following his 13-point season in 2023.
• Vatne makes his second straight appearance on the All-CAA preseason team while Msabaha is featured for a second time on the honorable mention list.
• Stromsten returns to the Phoenix for his fifth season at Elon. The forward came on strong at the end of the season up top for the Phoenix, scoring four goals in his final six conference games. Stromsten saw the Phoenix through to the CAA semifinals with a game-winning goal over the number three seeded Stony Brook Sea Wolves.
• Vatne enters his senior season having amassed a list of preseason and post-season honors over the last year. Following an All-CAA First Team and All-Atlantic Region season in 2023, Vatne returns to the midfield following a 12-point season and leading the Phoenix in assists with four.
• Msabaha makes his second honorable mention side after back-to-back All-CAA Third Team selections. The junior captain led the Phoenix last season in the midfield, making 16 starts in 17 games and picking up an assist in Elon's CAA quarterfinal win.

 
Top Drawer Recognition

• This Elon team has been awarded the 13^th spot in Top Drawer Soccer's ranking of the Top 25 NCAA men's soccer teams for the week of September 9^th.
• 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.

 
Scouting Delaware

• The Blue Hens were predicted third in the preseason CAA poll released in August.
• Sam Donnellan and Rich Monath were named to the 2024 Preseason All-CAA Men's Soccer Team.
• After six non-conference games, Delaware sits at 4-1-1 before hitting CAA play. The Blue Hens win their first two games including their home opener vs. Howard, a Big10 4-1 victory over Rutgers University in Piscataway, N.J.
• Delaware opened their season with a 3-0 win over Howard at Stuart & Suzanne Grant Stadium in Delaware.
• Donnellan leads the team in scoring so far this season with 4 goals spread over the Blue Hens non-conference play thus far.
• Tommy McMenemy enters his second season as the head coach of the Blue Hens after leading University of Michigan's men's soccer program.

 
New Faces Making Impact

• Colin Veltri, Connor Mucchetti, and Charlie Kitch all join the Phoenix after playing elsewhere in the 2023 season.
• Veltri claimed the game-tying goal in the first half in the game against Grand Canyon. He enters the matchup with Drexel claiming a point in all four games so far this season.
• Veltri and Mucchetti both scored in the recent matchup against Coastal Carolina with Mucchetti netting his second goal and Veltri netting his first.
• Veltri and Kitch both collected an assist on Scott Vatne's game-winning goal against Florida Gulf Coast.
• Veltri currently is tied with Vatne for the team lead in assists with three through three games.
• Both Veltri and Mucchetti joined the Phoenix in the spring with Kitch joining Elon this fall.
• Jack Donlan put together a 90-minute performance at center back for the Phoenix against Radford and a 62-minute stint against Coastal Carolina. Donlan joines the Phoenix after a two-year stint at Indian Hills CC.