Elon University Athletics

ELON – The Elon men's soccer team (9-3-6) was eliminated from the CAA Tournament on Thursday night at Rudd Field, falling to College of Charleston (8-4-5) in a 2-0 decision in a quarterfinal match at Rudd Field.

The Cougars netted a pair of second-half goals to take control of the game. Despite a strong push from Elon in the closing minutes, Charleston held on to win and advance to the semifinals.

Elon, ranked No. 20 in the TopDrawer Soccer poll, earned the No. 2 seed from the South Division for the CAA Tournament after winning the conference title a season ago.

How It Happened

• Charleston attempted the game's first two shots with Drew Hartman coming off the goal line to make his first save in the 11th minute on a Stian Bendvold attempt.
• Ben Madore had a quality chance in the 24th minute but a curling shot missed the net to the left.
• Diego Thompson put Elon's first shot on target late in the first half, but it was handled by Charleston goalkeeper Charlie Duske. The match remained scoreless entering halftime.
• The Cougars scored in the second minute out of the halftime break with Matt Lenert heading a ball past Hartman to make it 1-0.
• Charleston took seven of the next eight shots after the Lenert goal and cashed in again in the 60th minute when Michiharu Takanashi scored to double the advantage.
• Elon was awarded a penalty kick in the 77th minute after Alex Wharton was taken down in the box. However, Oscar Tonidandel's attempt hit the cross bar as Charleston maintained its 2-0 lead.
• Wharton, Tonidandel and Dominik Renz all had shots down the stretch for Elon but could not solve Duske, who made his final save with just over 30 seconds remaining to secure a clean sheet.

 
Notable Numbers

• The match featured 30 combined shot attempts with Charleston edging out Elon, 17-13.
• Tonidandel took a team-high four shot attempts for the Phoenix. Madore, Renz and Jordin Wilson each took two shots.
• Renz, Magnus Jacobsen and Tønnes Daland all went the full 90 minutes for the Phoenix.
• Elon saw its 13-match unbeaten streak, a program record for consecutive matches in a single season without a loss, snapped. The Phoenix also had its 20-match unbeaten streak, which dated back to Nov. 10, 2024, come to an end.

 
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For further coverage of Elon men's soccer, follow the Phoenix on X (@ElonMSoccer), Instagram (elonmsoccer) and Facebook (Elon Men's Soccer).