ELON – The Elon University men's soccer team (3-0-1) continues its three-game homestand at Rudd Field Saturday, as the Phoenix welcomes USC Upstate (1-3-1) for a 7 p.m. match.
Elon vs. USC Upstate Briefing
Match Details: Sept. 13, 2025 | Elon, N.C. | Rudd Field | 7 p.m.
Admission: Free
Pups At The Pitch
- Saturday will be Elon's Pups at the Pitch night at Rudd Field. Fans are encouraged to bring their dogs to the game.
The USC Upstate Series
- Saturday will be first ever regular season meeting between the Phoenix and Spartans.
Last Time Out
- Elon improved to 2-0-0 in CAA play last Saturday with a 1-0 home victory over College of Charleston.
- Dominik Renz registered the game's only goal in the 61st minute off a Colin Veltri assist. It was Renz's second game-winning tally in as many conference games this season.
- Veltri's assist was his first point of the campaign. He led the Phoenix with four shot attempts in 76 minutes of action.
- Jackson Leavitt recorded his third clean sheet in four starts this season, making three saves to anchor an Elon shutout.
- The Phoenix outshot the Cougars, 12-9, on the day. Both teams recorded three shots on target. Martin Kozak (2) and Magnus Jacobsen (2) joined Veltri with multiple shot attempts.
- Four position players went the full 90 minutes for Elon – August Guinle, Carlos Levy, Majaliwa Msabaha and Jacobsen.
Deja Vu
- Elon took home two of the conference's weekly awards for the second straight week on Monday, with Leavitt repeating as the CAA Defensive Player of the Week and Renz repeating as CAA Rookie of the Week.
- Leavitt posted a pair of shutouts in goal last week for the Phoenix. He stopped Radford's lone shot on goal Tuesday in a 2-0 road victory before blanking College of Charleston on Saturday with a three-save effort in a 1-0 win. Leavitt leads the CAA in save percentage (.917), goals against average (.250) and shutouts (3) through Elon's first four games this season.
- Renz scored his second game-winning goal in as many CAA games for the Phoenix against the Cougars. Renz, who leads the Phoenix with five points this season, also had an assist in Elon's victory over Radford on Sept. 2.
Defense, Defense, Defense
- Elon has allowed just one goal through its first four games. The Phoenix has posted three clean sheets on the season.
- The Phoenix has allowed three fewer goals than the next best CAA team. Elon's 0.25 goals against average leads the conference.
- Leavitt has played every minute in goal this season for the Phoenix. He has made 11 saves and ranks top 20 nationally in both save percentage and goals against average.
- Msabaha has logged all 360 minutes for Elon this season. Levy has also surpassed 300 minutes (333) on Elon's backline.
- Elon has allowed just one of its first four opponents to reach double digit shot attempts in a game.
Kozak Contributing
- Kozak leads the Phoenix with three assists through the first four games this season, all of which he has started.
- The St. John's transfer assisted both of Elon's goals on Aug. 30 at UNCW in a 2-1 CAA victory.
- Kozak is the only Elon player with multiple assists on the season and has contributed on three of Elon's five goals as a team.
- Kozak is tied for the second most assists among CAA players, trailing only Monmouth's Jakob Friedman (4).
Defending Regular Season Champs
- Elon is coming off its second regular season CAA title in the last three seasons after topping the league table in 2024 with a 6-2 conference mark.
- Needing a victory in the regular season finale against Campbell to clinch the regular season crown, Elon came away with a 2-1 road victory behind goals from Scott Vatne and Connor Mucchetti.
- The Phoenix finished last season with a 10-7-1 overall record. As the top seed in the CAA Championship, Elon hosted a semifinal match against No. 4 seeded Hofstra, losing 2-0 to the eventual conference champions.
- Elon went its first eight matches without a defeat and rose to as high as No. 10 in the national rankings. During that stretch, the Phoenix won its first five games by a combined score of 14-2, staged a 3-0 road comeback to defeat Delaware 4-3 and drew on the road against ACC opponent Wake Forest.
- Vatne earned CAA Player of the Year after notching 10 goals and seven assists to lead the Phoenix in both categories. He became Elon's first conference player of the year since Daniel Lovitz took home the award for the SoConn in 2013.
- Victor Stromsten, Tomasz Wroblewski, Kitch and Veltri also earned All-CAA recognition, with all four earning a spot on the second team.
- Additionally, head coach Marc Reeves took home CAA Coach of the Year for the second time in three seasons after also winning the award in 2022.
New Look CAA Soccer
- Starting in 2025, the CAA will feature two divisions for men's soccer – a North and South Division.
- Elon is part of the South Division alongside Campbell, College of Charleston, UNCW and William & Mary.
- The Phoenix will face the other four South Division teams twice during the regular season, with one game at home and one on the road.
- At the end of the regular season, the top three teams from each division will qualify for the CAA Championship. The top seed in each division will receive a bye to the semifinals while the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds in both the North and South will clash in the quarterfinals.
Scouting USC Upstate
- Upstate comes into Saturday's contest with a 1-3-1 record on the season.
- The Spartans lost at College of Charleston, 1-0, in their most recent outing on Tuesday.
- Prior to their current two-game losing streak, the Spartans picked up a 2-1 road win over South Carolina. Oscar Kelly scored the winning goal in the 78th minute after the Gamecocks equalized just a minute earlier.
- Kelly leads the Spartans in goals this season, having scored three of their six. The goals have come in three different contests.
- Upstate's other goal scorers this season include Lucas Bergfors, Oskar Kaufmann and Josh Zawlocki, all of whom have one.
- Vitalis Takawira Jr. leads the Spartans with a pair of assists. Bergfors has also assisted on a goal this season.
- Jarrett Wuerslin has started all five of Upstate's games at goalkeeper, making 19 saves.
- Upstate is led by first-year head coach Michael Antoniewicz.
Stay Posted
For further coverage of Elon men's soccer, follow the Phoenix on X (@ElonMSoccer), Instagram (elonmsoccer) and Facebook (Elon Men's Soccer).
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