ELON – A trio of first-half goals propelled the Elon University women's soccer team (8-2-4, 2-2-2 CAA) to a dominant 4-1 victory Thursday night against Drexel (2-6-8, 1-4-2 CAA) at Rudd Field.
Isa Murdock,
Grace Gelhaus and
Megan Dwyer all converted in the first half to give the Phoenix a 3-0 advantage entering halftime.
Talia Feigin tacked on a goal early in the second half to stretch the lead to four. In goal,
Katie Bisgrove made seven saves in a winning effort.
The four goals were Elon's most in a conference match since netting six against Hampton a season ago. It also matched the second most in a game for the Phoenix this season.
With the victory, Elon has now won back-to-back CAA matches and is within two points of the third and final conference tournament spot for the South Division.
How It Happened
- It took Elon just two shot attempts to find the scoreboard. After Ashlee Brehio moved the ball to Murdock on the right sideline, Murdock played it to Gabby Hoschek at the top right corner of the box. With her first touch, Hoschek lifted a ball into the air to free Murdock toward the left center of the box before Murdock fired a shot to the top left corner of the goal past the Drexel goalkeeper for the game's first tally.
- Elon struck again in the 23rd minute to double its advantage. After a Dwyer shot rang off the cross bar, the ball dropped down to Gelhaus in the box, who nudged it into the bottom right corner of the goal to make it 2-0.
- Dwyer made it 3-0 for the Phoenix with a goal in the final minute of the opening half. Hoschek played the ball into the box to Jess Beck, who then centered it for a sprinting Dwyer. With the goalkeeper moving across the crease to the right, Dwyer shot the ball to the left post with her first touch, finding the net to extend the lead to three.
- In the 54th minute, Elon scored again on a clinical counterattack. After successfully defending a Drexel corner kick, Murdock started the break with a long pass down the far sideline to Lauren McCauley, who then played the ball to an open Feigin in the middle of the field. With no defenders to beat, Feigin rolled the ball into the right side of the cage.
- Drexel cut into the deficit with a goal in the 61st minute from Adriana Salzano.
- Bisgrove came up with several key saves down the stretch, stopping four Drexel shots in the final 30 minutes of the contest to preserve Elon's three-goal lead.
- Drexel's final attempt came with 17 seconds remaining as the Phoenix went on to close out a 4-1 victory.
Notes & Numbers
- Murdock and Gelhaus both netted their fifth goals of the season to take the team lead. With her three points on the night, Murdock is up to a team-high 15 points.
- With her fifth goal of the season, Gelhaus set a new career high, surpassing her previous best of four in 2023. Gelhaus has a goal in each of Elon's last two matches.
- Dwyer's assist on Gelhaus' goal was her second of the season, as she also recorded a helper against George Mason on Sept. 7.
- Dwyer netted her second career goal and her first of the season in the final minute of the first half. This was her second career match with both a goal and an assist, as she also did it against Hampton last season.
- Feigin's goal was the first of her Elon career and her first points on the season since recording an assist on Sept. 10 versus South Carolina State. Feigin played 44 minutes as a reserve, attempting two shots.
- With assists on the Murdock and Feigin goals, Hoschek registered her second career two-assist game, with the other coming on Sept. 2, 2024, at Wofford. The junior is the third Elon player to have multiple assists in a match this season, joining Brehio (2) against VMI on Aug. 17 and Jordan Green (2) versus South Carolina State.
- Hoschek is up to 13 points on the season with the two assists against the Dragons, which is a new career high. She had 11 points in each of the last two seasons.
- Beck delivered her second assist of the campaign with McCauley adding her first. It was McCauley's first career assist and her first point since scoring a goal against VMI earlier this season.
- Elon's six assists matched the second most in a match for the Phoenix season. Elon also had six against VMI and eight versus South Carolina State.
- With Dwyer and Feigin scoring the first goals of the season, Elon has 11 different goal scorers on the campaign.
- Drexel outshot Elon, 16-12, and finished with a narrow 9-7 advantage in shots on target. This was Elon's fourth victory this season when getting outshot by its opponent.
- Brehio led the Phoenix with four shot attempts, while Feigin and Murdock led Elon with two shots on goal each.
- This was the first time Elon scored three goals in an opening half since last season against Hampton.
- Alexis Pierce was the lone Phoenix field player to log the full 90 minutes. In total, 20 Elon players saw the pitch Thursday.
- This was Bisgrove's seventh match this season with five-plus saves. The sophomore made four of her seven stops in the second half.
- The Phoenix is unbeaten in its last three conference matches, securing seven points in the CAA South standings in that stretch.
Up Next
The Phoenix welcomes Towson, another CAA North opponent, to Rudd on Sunday. The match will be Elon's Senior Day, as the program will honor Brehio,
Rachel Buckle,
Ava Hellner, Murdock and
Amy Ollendorff in a ceremony prior to the 1 p.m. kickoff.
Stay Posted
For further coverage of Elon women's soccer, follow the Phoenix on X (@ElonWSoccer), Instagram (elonwsoccer) and Facebook (Elon Women's Soccer).
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