Elon University Athletics

DAVIDSON, N.C. – Powered by a pair of first-time goal scorers, the Elon men's soccer team (4-2-2) held off Davidson (1-2-4) on Tuesday night for a 2-1 victory at Alumni Soccer Stadium.

Daire McCarthy and Diego Thompson both scored their first Phoenix goals in the first half to give the Phoenix a 2-0 advantage at the break. Elon then weathered a second-half fight back from the Wildcats, who scored in the 49th minute, to hold on and win the match.

In goal, Mikolaj Lenarcik made all five of his saves in the second half to preserve Elon's victory. The five stops were a career high for Lenarcik, who has now won each of his last two starts.

How It Happened

• Elon earned the game's first corner kick opportunity in the fifth minute. Weston Jonke took the corner, crossing the ball to the far post and finding the head of McCarthy, who nudged the ball out of the air and into the back of the net for a Phoenix goal.
• Martin Kozak created another chance for Elon in the eighth minute that was stopped by Davidson's goalkeeper.
• Davidson attempted a pair of shots shortly after the McCarthy goal that both missed the target.
• In the 39th minute, Thompson created a shot from just outside the 18-yard box, beating Davidson's goalkeeper in the right corner to make it 2-0 for Elon. The Phoenix took that two-goal lead into halftime.
• The Wildcats ended Elon's clean sheet in the 49th minute with their first goal of the night.
• Kozak created another dangerous scoring chance for the Phoenix in the 57th minute, barely missing the goal on a shot from outside the box that curled toward the right post.
• Davidson nearly tied the score in the 58th minute on a bending effort that hit the crossbar near the right post.
• The Wildcats appeared to have the tying goal in the 77th minute but the tally was waved off due to a Davidson offensive foul in the box.
• Lenarcik was called upon for a flurry of saves over the final 13 minutes. He made four of his five saves on the night in that stretch to help prevent Davidson from netting the tying goal.
• Davidson's final shot attempt came in the 87th minute but it was turned away by Lenarcik.

 

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Notable Numbers

• McCarthy's goal was his first with the Phoenix after playing for two years at Charlotte. The two points are the junior's first with Elon. The midfielder went the full 90 minutes against the Wildcats, his fourth straight appearance going the distance.  
• Thompson's goal was the first of his career in his eighth appearance with the Phoenix. The midfielder played 35 reserve minutes for the Phoenix.
• McCarthy and Thompson were the 10th and 11th different Phoenix to score a goal this season, respectively.
• Jonke was credited with the assist on McCarthy's tally, his second helper directly off a corner kick this season. Jonke has already surpassed his points tally from last season with four through Elon's first eight contests this season.
• Mohamed Kallon also picked up his second assist on the campaign on Thompson's goal. It was the forward's first point since assisting on a goal Aug. 24 at Old Dominion.
• Kozak paced the Phoenix with three shot attempts and was the only Elon player to take more than one shot. Ten different Phoenix combined for Elon's 11 shot attempts.
• Davidson outshot Elon 14-11 for the match, with 11 of the Wildcats' shots coming after halftime.
• Joining McCarthy in playing the full 90 minutes in the field for Elon was Jonke, Tønnes Daland and Magnus Jacobsen.
• Jordin Wilson made his first start of the campaign, logging 40 minutes.
• Lenarcik earned his second win of the season with his career-high five saves. The Phoenix is now 2-1-0 this season when Lenarcik starts in goal, with the wins coming in his two most recent starts.
• Elon is now 3-1-0 this season in nonconference play. This was also Elon's second road win of the campaign, as the Phoenix has won each of its last two fixtures away from home.
• The Phoenix improved to 13-3-0 all-time against Davidson with the triumph. Elon is now 7-1-0 against the Wildcats at Davidson.

 
Up Next
Elon hits the road for another nonconference showdown Friday night against Duke. Kickoff at Koskinen Stadium is slated for 7 p.m.

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