Elon men’s soccer head coach Marc Reeves doesn’t spend much time looking backward.

Even after a season that ended with a Coastal Athletic Association regular-season title, a conference tournament championship and an NCAA Tournament appearance, the message inside the program has been simple: last year is last year.

“We don’t even talk about last year in any format other than we know what it takes to get back there, and we know it’s a game-by-game process,” Reeves said.

That forward-looking mentality, paired with a roster that returns much of its core while adding key transfers, has Elon positioned for another run in 2026.

Defense built to last

Last season’s Phoenix squad built its identity on the back of a stingy defense, finishing among the nation’s best in goals-against average. Reeves isn’t interested in reinventing that identity, even as the team looks to add more scoring punch.

“Every year your group can be slightly different, and the way we do it, we always want to play to the strengths of our players,” Reeves said. “This year, we’re probably slightly more technical than we’ve been in a while, hopefully more of a threat on offense, but we certainly don’t want to go away from those pillars of our program.”

That defensive identity comes with an intriguing battle in goal.

The Phoenix are replacing standout keeper Jackson Leavitt from last season with a competition between redshirt junior Drew Hartman and redshirt freshman Mikolaj Lenarcik.

Reeves split the first two games of the season evenly between the two, and the job remains up for grabs.

“Both of them are really good goalkeepers,” Reeves said. “I feel completely confident with either of them as our starting goalkeeper, and neither of them have separated themselves enough to say, ‘I’m the guy.’ So training is designed to give them opportunities to do that.”

In front of them, Elon returns several pieces from last year’s defense while continuing to integrate new players.

Sophomore transfer Tønnes Daland has stepped into the left center-back role after transferring in during the spring, while veteran graduate students such as Ryan Manna and Carlos Levy provide experience behind the younger pieces.

The goal, Reeves said, is to preserve the defensive foundation that helped carry Elon last season while giving the team more freedom to attack.

More firepower up top

If the defense is the constant, the attack is where Reeves expects the biggest evolution.

The Phoenix return a deep and versatile front group, headlined by redshirt junior forward Dominik Renz, who won CAA Rookie of the Year last season.

“Dom’s first year last year with our program was exceptional,” Reeves said. “I don’t think people understand how pivotal he is to the way we play. He holds the ball up well, he presses well, he’s a threat behind — he’s just a really team-first, committed forward who’s also got real ability.”

Renz isn’t the only returning option.

Seniors Jordin Wilson and Jahmir Flowers, redshirt sophomore Oscar Tonidandel and redshirt freshman Diego Thompson give Reeves a variety of options to rotate through as the season develops.

Elon also added transfers such as redshirt junior Ben Madore from Penn State University and redshirt freshman Mohamed Kallon from North Carolina State University, giving the Phoenix attacking options as they look to increase their offensive production.

Madore appeared in 31 matches for the Nittany Lions, scoring five goals last season. 

Reeves set a collective target for that group.

“If we can get to that 40-goals mark as a front four group, we’re probably in good shape,” Reeves said.

Senior captain Martin Kozak, who was named CAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player in 2025, has already contributed offensively. Reeves pointed to him as one of the players who can help lead the attack.

Continuity and new faces

Elon’s 2026 roster blends returning pieces with newcomers who arrived via the transfer portal in the spring.

Rather than allowing those transfers to remain outsiders, Reeves said the players were integrated into the team immediately.

“We had four players transfer in the spring. I’ll almost forget they’re transfers because they played every minute in the spring and they’ve added so much,” Reeves said.

Reeves credited graduate students Manna and Levy, along with Kozak, as key leaders in helping those players adjust.

That culture-first approach extends to how Elon evaluates potential additions.

“When there’s really good players, and maybe there’s some question marks on some things, you believe that your culture and your leadership, the guys that have been here, can assist them to be more on board,” Reeves said. “But you can’t go outside the extremes. We won’t take anyone who’s not ready academically. We won’t take anyone who’s got major red flags socially.”

A family that plays like one

Ask Kozak, who transferred to Elon two years ago from St. John’s University, to describe the team, and the answer comes without hesitation.

“I’ll say a family,” Kozak said. “It’s just because of how united we are, how tight, how caring.”

Kozak transferred to Elon in part because of a connection through his former coach at St. John’s, who had once coached Reeves. But it was a visit to campus that sealed the decision.

“When I came here, I was just like, this place is it,” Kozak said. “I’m a guy that usually I guide my life based on what I feel, what I sense, and when I came to Elon, I was like, ‘Holy, this place is for me.’”

That family culture, Reeves said, starts with the coaching staff and its daily standard.

“We show up every day positive, we show up every day early, we show up every day prepared,” Reeves said. “When you do that, it translates to the players.”

Unfinished business

Elon’s 2025 season ended in heartbreaking fashion — a penalty-kick loss to the University of North Carolina, Greensboro in the NCAA Tournament after the Phoenix won both the CAA regular-season and tournament titles.

Kozak said that the near-miss still lingers as motivation.

“It gave us a bitter taste. We wanted something else,” Kozak said. “It’s something that proves we are ready to compete at the highest level. We are ready to be an NCAA team. We are ready to win NCAA games. It’s just a matter of correcting those little details and believing that we deserve to be up there.”

Returning to the NCAA Tournament means playing through a competitive schedule, but Reeves is focused on the process that has made Elon a consistent CAA contender.

“We need to finish in the top three in the CAA South,” Reeves said. “Our body of work can get us in as an at-large, too. But this program’s goals will remain the same: we want to advance in the NCAA Tournament. We’re not here to just make up the numbers and be there.”

For Kozak, the aspirations extend beyond banners and trophies.

“I want this 2026 Elon soccer team to be remembered as definitely a winning team, a championship team — a team that did something that has never been done before at Elon,” Kozak said. “And I also want people to remember us as great human beings off the field. Making an impact on other people’s lives is something that is super powerful.”