The Elon University men’s soccer team followed two different scripts through the UNCW Classic Friday, Sept. 6 and Sunday, Sept. 8, but came away from the tournament in Wilmington with two victories to stay unbeaten on the season.
In the first game of the tournament Friday against Mercer University, the Phoenix battled the Bears in a back-and-forth game before taking the 3-2 victory on a late-second goal from senior midfielder Charles Howard.
The game remained scoreless through the first 70 minutes with both teams having ample opportunities to put the ball in the back of the net.
Finally, Mercer was able to break through in the 72nd minute when Ehjayson Henry rifled a shot from 24 yards out that deflected off an Elon defender and past the Phoenix’s senior goalkeeper Nathan Dean.
Elon would answer a minute later, though, on sophomore midfielder James Brace’s second effort goal stemming from his own shot, which he was able to sneak by Bears goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh.
Seven minutes later in the 80th minute, the Phoenix took a 2-1 lead on junior forward Jason Waterman’s shot from eight yards out. The strike was assisted by sophomore defender Nathan Diehl and sophomore midfielder Myles Mansfield.
The Phoenix were unable to hold their lead for the remaining 20 minutes of the game, with Henry scoring his second goal of the match in the 86th minute, tying the score at two and sending the match into overtime.
After a scoreless first overtime session, Howard was able to net the winning goal for the Phoenix on a shot from 22 yards out that took an odd bounce off a Bears defender and went in for the golden goal.
In the second game of the tournament Sunday, the Phoneix were finally able to keep a clean sheet against Presbyterian College with a 3-0 shutout victory.
The Phoenix dominated from start to finish, outshooting the Blue Hose 12-3 and taking eight corners to Presbyterian’s two.
Elon began the game doing what they couldn’t do in their three previous matches — they scored first, taking a one goal lead in the 8th minute on sophomore midfielder James Brace’s goal from inside the box.
Eight minutes later, the Phoenix would add to their lead. Sophomore midfielder Miguel Salazar sent a beautiful long ball over the head of the Presbyterian defense and onto the foot of fellow sophomore midfielder Caue Da Silva. Da Silva only needed only to beat Presbyterian goalkeeper Tyler Beadle for his first goal as a Phoenix. He was able to do just that.
The Phoenix scored their final goal four minutes later from the penalty spot in the 20th minute when Brace found the back of the net to give the Phoenix a 3-0 edge.
Elon will have a week off before hosting nationally ranked University of North Carolina at Wilmington on Saturday, Sept. 14 at 7 p.m. The match marks the first home game of the season for the Phoenix.
The Seahawks are ranked No. 24 in the country as of the Sept. 3 NCAA rankings.