Elon women’s soccer defeated Charleston Southern University 3-0 Sept. 13, at Rudd Field.
In the first few minutes of the second half, the Phoenix were resilient on defense and barely let the Buccaneers breathe. Junior Alexis Gordon was a pest on defense and pitched the ball ahead multiple times.
Head coach Neil Payne said his team has come out with some great energy in the past few games, and he hoped to see that momentum continue into the match against the Buccaneers.
“The last few games, we’ve had a shutout, so defensively we’re looking really strong,” Payne said. “We had a few kinks early on in the season that we had to iron out, so I am really pleased with our defensive side of play today.”
Junior Gabby Tirado and redshirt senior Isa Murdock had several close shots on goal but were stopped by CSU’s goalie.
Throughout the first half, the Buccaneers got through Elon’s defense, but the team worked together to stop them from scoring.
Late in the half, senior Jordan Green broke free and got the Phoenix on the board. The Phoenix went into halftime with a 1-0 lead.
A member of Elon University's women's soccer team winds up for a throw-in early in the second half in their match against Charleston Southern University, Sept. 13 at Rudd Field.
As the second half went underway, the team came out with the same energy they started the game with. Charleston Southern was unable to break free from the Phoenix. Elon was breaking up passes and not letting Charleston Southern get anywhere near the goal. Specify second half
In the 63rd minute, redshirt junior Maya Abousaab escaped from defenders and scored a goal thanks to an assist by senior Jordan Green, giving the Phoenix a 2-0 lead.
Later in the match, the Buccaneers started to break through the Phoenix defense, but were unable to get the ball past redshirt sophomore goalie Naomi Person.
With eight minutes left in the game after a yellow card was delivered to the Buccaneers, Murdock got her second goal of the afternoon and extended the Phoenix lead, 3-0.
This is Murdock’s fourth goal in the past three games. Murdock said these goals will help her and the team prepare for conference play.
“I think non-conference really helps prepare you for conference, and the ease of knowing that those goals are already there, so there’s more to come”, Murdock said.
The Phoenix are currently on a 3-0 run at home this season. Payne thinks the games they have played will make them stronger as the season continues.
“We’ve had different kinds of tests, which was by design, and that show us different moments in certain games that we’re going to need against conference opponents,” Payne said. “So the group’s really excited for the next phase to begin.”
The Phoenix will be off for a week and back in action Sept. 20 against Campbell University at Rudd Field.
Rowen Zalayet contributed to the reporting in this story.