The No. 1 seeded Phoenix will host a semifinal matchup against either No. 4 seed Drexel or No. 5 seed Northeastern on Sunday, Nov. 6, in the CAA Championship tournament. That match is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start time.
Posting its 10th shutout of the season, the Elon University men’s soccer team clinched its first outright Colonial Athletic Association regular season title with its 0-0 draw at UNCW on Saturday night, Oct. 29 at UNCW Soccer Stadium.
The Phoenix (10-3-3, 6-1-2 CAA) earned its first regular season title of any kind since 2015 when its shared co-champion honors with Hofstra. The draw secured Elon the No. 1 seed for the league championship tournament while the Seahawks (6-3-7, 5-1-3 CAA) will be the No. 2 seed.
“(UNCW) is a really good team, probably the best team we’ve played all year,” said Elon head coach Marc Reeves. “The first half, they had a lot of chance that we weathered a little bit. The most important thing is that our group just kept battling for each other and when you do that, it keeps you in games.
“Unbelievably proud of the group. I think (winning the regular season title) is a great accomplishment in a big league like this. So, to be regular season champions is a great thing to say.”
UNCW was on the attack early in the match earning a pair of corner kicks less than a minute into the contest. The Seahawks were also able to get three shot attempts in the first three minutes, but Elon was able to hold off the attack.
Elon’s best look early on in the match came in the 23rd minute. The Phoenix drew a free kick just outside the 18-yard area and serviced a ball into the box that found the head of Mason Duval. Duval’s try however went wide of the target.
Three minutes later, UNCW’s Jalen Anderson had the first shot on target of the night, but Phoenix keeper Ryan Bilichuk turned away the shot for the save.
Bilichuk had to make his second save of the night in the 70th minute. The Greenville, S.C., native played a low shot to the bottom left of the goal by UNCW’s Cannon Tootle, but was able to corral the ball.
The Phoenix’s best chance of the night overall came in the 84th minute. Elon looked to counter on a UNCW turnover with Duval and Scott Vatne both racing towards the goal with only one defender between them. Duval slotted the ball to his right to Vatne, who sized up a good look on goal, but the Seahawks’ Gabriel Perrotta made his first save of the match to force a corner kick.
Duval had another chance to put points on the board on another counter attack in the 87th minute. The George Town, Cayman Islands, native tried to find the top left corner from the left side of the box, but the ball sailed high.
NOTES
- Elon earned its first regular season title overall since winning the 2012 Southern Conference championship.
- The draw between the Phoenix and the Seahawks kept the series deadlocked at 6-6-3 all-time going back to 2005.
- Bilichuk tied the program’s single-season record for clean sheets with his 10th of the season. Bilichuk joins Clint Irwin ’11 and Matthew Jegier ’18 atop the program’s single-season shutout record.
- The Phoenix was outshot in the match, 9-3, and also in corners by a 9-3 margin.
The No. 1 seeded Phoenix will host a semifinal matchup against either No. 4 seed Drexel or No. 5 seed Northeastern on Sunday, Nov. 6, in the CAA Championship tournament. That match is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start time.