It’s tough to imagine a more storybook ending to the season for the Elon University men’s soccer team.
They won the Southern Conference regular season title and the tournament's No. 1 seed.
They then held off a pesky, but ultimately undermanned Davison College team in the first round, survived a stern test from the Georgia Southern University Eagles and topped it all off Saturday night with an impressive 2-1 victory over Wofford College in the championship game.
The win pushed the Phoenix to itsouthern Conference title, and, with it, a second straight appearance in the NCAA tournament.
“I thought the team again showed great character tonight,” Elon head coach Darren Powell said. “This signifies what we’ve been doing all year. As a coach I couldn’t be more proud of the guys. (Playing in the NCAA tournament) is obviously another milestone for the program. We want to continue competing on the highest stage possible. We hope we (are) not just be in the tournament this year but also win a game there.”
A key to the Phoenix’s title, as it was during last year’s championship run, was its defense. The Phoenix defense played superbly, conceding just two goals in three Southern Conference tournament games.
“Nathan (Dean), our keeper has been spectacular this year, he’s come up with some big saves for us," Elon senior midfielder Gabe Latigue said. “Also (junior defender) Nick Butterly and (freshman midfielder) Sammy (McBride) in the back have been fantastic for us, wining big balls and really holding our defense down, and that’s where it starts. We look for those guys to give us a bit of guidance being behind us and tonight they really stepped up and played well.”
The Phoenix started fast, scoring in the ninth minute. Junior midfielder Matt Wescoe headed home sophomore midfielder Jason Waterman's cross for his sixth goal of the season. It was exactly the kind of start Latigue and his teammates were hoping for.
“Any beginning time you can go up first in a major game, it helps you relax a bit,” Latigue said. “Wescoe’s been brilliant this year. He’s helped us score a lot of goals and provide a lot of assists for goals, so having him score that first goal was spectacular, we’re all really proud of him.”
Despite dominating for long stretches of the opening half, the Phoenix could do nothing with its 11 shots on goal. The Terriers battled back, tying the score at one in the 71st minute on a corner headed in by midfielder Ellis Vienne. It was Vienne’s lone goal on the season.
The Phoenix bounced back quickly, scoring four minutes later on Latigue's free kick from just outside the box that the midfielder was able to sneak by Terrier goalkeeper Andrew Drennan.
“It was disappointing to give up a goal on a set piece like we did,” Latigue said. “But (we) played really hard to get back in the game and we were lucky to get a free kick and we were able to put it in and we used that momentum to close the game out.”
Elon was able to sweep the regular season and tournament titles, a feat few teams have been able to accomplish.
“As a senior, (winning both titles) feels great,” Latigue said. "The guys did not let up and we were not satisfied with just a regular season title. We also wanted to be back-to-back playoff champions and we kept the right focus and put that into the playoffs, even into the final match, and we were able to come out on top.”
The Phoenix will enter its second NCAA tournament having gained invaluable experience from last year’s appearance. Powell, who guided his team to the most wins they’ve had in his eight years at the helm this season, hopes his team drew upon that experience.
“I think the key for us is our preparation,” Powell said. “Last year, at the end, we didn’t necessarily have enough turnaround time with a Sunday afternoon game away from Elon and get on the road again by Wednesday to play Thursday (in the NCAA tournament). Our preparation wasn’t ideal to get the team focused. It was just a whirlwind last year. Now we’ve been through that experience we know what we need to work on and what we need to prepare in particular for the game on Thursday.”