Elon women’s soccer hosted the Campbell University Camels at Rudd Field on Sept 20. The Phoenix were looking to get their first conference win of the season.
As the game kicked off, both teams came out with intensity. The Phoenix and the Camels wouldn’t allow any breathing room for the opposing side.
At the 42-minute mark, senior Grace Gelhaus had a beautiful kick that went just right of the goal. As the half continued, the Phoenix used their ball movement to get past the aggressive Campbell defense.
Redshirt senior Ava Hellner pushed right up against the defense, breaking up passes and creating scoring opportunities for the Phoenix.
Elon had many chances to get on the board, but they couldn’t get the ball in the net. As the half came to a close, senior Jordan Green had a chance to get the Phoenix on the board, but just missed the net.
At halftime, the Phoenix were in a stalemate with the score tied at 0-0.
Elon head coach Neil Payne said he believed his team could come out strong in the second half to get this win.
“Campbell’s a good team, and I think they’re going to do well this year, so you had to stay disciplined,” Payne said. “We can’t be too cavalier in sending too many numbers early, but I did feel that we needed to be braver on the ball. We knew as time went on that we could get some chances to score”.
When the second half began, the Camels were becoming more physical with the Phoenix. They were up in their grill and even got away with a few shoves.
Junior Megan Dwyer calmed the Phoenix down with a crisp pass into the box that just went over the head of a few of her teammates.
The Phoenix got on the board thanks to a clean pass by senior Talia Feigin to Dwyer, leading to a Phoenix goal. The Phoenix bounced ahead 1-0.
Dwyer said she knew that the ball was coming, so she had to be in the right position and ready to strike.
“I knew she was gonna shoot it, so I just got myself in a position where I thought it was gonna go, and then it just was a really good cross,” Dwyer said.
The Elon women’s soccer team kept Campbell out of the box for most of the second half. As they progressed through the half, the Camels attempted shots, but redshirt sophomore goalie Naomi Person made some fantastic saves.
Around the 84th minute, the Camels were threatening until junior Gabby Tirado stole the ball and pushed down the field. She broke away and delivered a pass to junior Jess Beck to give the Phoenix their second goal of the half, 2–0.
Elon was able to weather the storm and not allow the Camels to get another chance at goal.
Dwyer said due to preparation off the field she knew what the defense was going to do before they did it.
“We talk a lot in our film about who to mark, so no matter the defensive zone, we’re watching for those numbers to mark,” Dwyer said.
The Phoenix escaped the fiery Campbell squad to earn their first conference victory of the season. The team is on a five-game unbeaten streak with four straight shutouts.
Payne said he was happy that the team was able to get their first conference win under their belt.
“It’s good to be at home, and we needed to take advantage of that,” Payne said. “Last year we had a difficult opening. Our first three games were away, and so that’s always difficult in a very good conference. It’s always nice to be at home and get their first win and get points on the board.”
Elon women’s soccer's next match is at home against Stony Brook University on Sept. 24 at Rudd Field.