After making the conference finals for the first time last year, the Elon men’s soccer team returned to Rhodes Stadium for an Aug. 19 exhibition game against East Tennessee State University.
Freshman students packed the bleachers for their introduction to university athletics and the men’s soccer program — ranked No. 3 in this year’s Colonial Athletic Association preseason rankings behind defending conference champion Hofstra and University of North Carolina at Wilmington.
Though the Phoenix fell 3-0 in the exhibition match, coach Marc Reeves is looking forward to the season and is confident in the team’s strong incoming class.
“We have exceptional freshmen,” Reeves said. “They’ve all done a good job on the physical side to be as ready as possible.”
In addition to five freshmen joining the team, Elon added four graduate students, each with two years of eligibility, to its roster.
“We’re really excited about it,” Reeves said. “They bring experience, they bring maturity, and they’ll hopefully bring strength and leadership. We expect them to be a big part of our program over the next two years.”
One incoming graduate student, Ryan Bilichuk from the University of South Carolina, is in competition to be the team’s starting goalkeeper.
With the graduation of former goalkeeper Peter Wentzel, the position is open for anyone.
“Ryan has a lot of games under his belt from his time in South Carolina,” Coach Reeves said. “He has a lot of experience under his belt.”
Junior Cam Pelle had five starts at goalkeeper last season, but he is currently in recovery following a shoulder injury. The two other goalies on the roster are freshmen, Jackson Leavitt and Patrick Shealy, and are working hard to get playing time.
“Jackson and Patrick are training well,” Reeves said. “It’s competitive every training session, but right now Ryan has a few more looks than the other two.”
While leading scorer Jack Edwards graduated last year, the Phoenix still has nine of its top ten goal scorers from last year.
“Our midfield is the most talented it’s been since I’ve been here,” Reeves said. “We expect our center backs to score more this year.”
Senior defenders Kasper Lehm and Jannick Videbaek were both listed on the second team all-CAA preseason team.
“They’re both exceptional leaders,” Reeves said. “We expect them to not just be preseason all-CAA, we expect them to be on the list at the end of the year.”
Last year was the first year for both assistant coach Brian White and associate head coach Ali Simmons. Making a conference championship last year, the coaches look to build on what they’ve accomplished.
“They’re incredible people, I’m fortunate to be surrounded by so many great staff members,” Reeves said. “Brian has a great nose for players in the recruiting process and works hard to ensure team logistics are taken care of. Ali’s incredible at his job, great recruiter, great coach. It’s all about surrounding yourself with as many people as possible that want your program to be great.”
Despite having high hopes for this season, Reeves doesn’t want to put unnecessary pressure on his players.
“Every game is so tight,” Reeves said. “There’s no overtimes this year, so points will be even more premium. There are two added teams, Stony Brook and Monmouth, they can be a wildcard. Six teams make it, so we’re just focused on doing what we can to make the tournament.”