Elon University men’s soccer is coming off its fourth straight loss despite a difficult schedule

Despite a strong start to the seasonElon men’s soccer suffered its fourth straight loss after losing 2-0 to the University of North Carolina, Charlotte.

The game started with strong defense on both sides. Both teams struggled to break into each other’s territory. After 10 minutes passed, redshirt junior Ryan Manna had the first shot of the game, but Charlotte’s stalwart goaltender Leo Stritter – who had nine shutouts this season – blocked it.

Then the Charlotte 49ers found their offensive identity and scored a variety of corners. Charlotte struck in the 23rd minute. Thanks to a miscommunication from Elon’s defense, Charlotte forward Grant Stewart scored the game’s first goal.

From that point on, it became increasingly difficult for the Phoenix to get out of the deficit. Against Charlotte’s nationally ranked defense – the team is first in goals allowed per game by 0.5 – the Phoenix offense faltered. After two early shots in the opening minutes, Elon struggled to penetrate deep into Charlotte territory.

A primary cause of this lack of offensive production was the absence of the team’s co-leader in goals and assists, senior Scott Vatne. Vatne was not in the starting line-up, which has rarely happened recently due to his physical capabilities. Vatne, who had three yellow cards before the start of the game, is now just two cards away from a one-match ban. Elon has decided to limit his star’s playing time as the postseason approaches. Vatne later came on for the first time at the start of the second half.

The Phoenix got their offense going in the final minutes of the first half with two promising shots from Manna and Senior Petro Klishchbut there was no equalizer before half-time.

Vatne eventually came into the game at the start of the second half, hoping his presence would fuel the attack. However, Vatne’s presence did nothing to close the gap between the Phoenix and the 49ers. Vatne only managed two shots.

Charlotte picked up where she left off and scored again four minutes into the second half. Charlotte continued to fire shots and dominated possession and control early in the second half.

Head coach Marc Reeves said he believed the team performed well in Vatne’s absence, but the early second-half goal diminished the impact Vatne could have had.

“When Scott came into the game he tried to get us going, but giving the goal away early in the second half was annoying because it took us out of the competition a little bit,” Reeves said. “But we had a few moments where we gave them a little bit of scare and if we had grabbed one we could have made it a much closer game.”

For the rest of the second half there were frequent exchanges between the two teams. But Elon failed to keep control of the ball when given the chance. Whenever the Phoenix got the ball, Charlotte defenders closed in on them and smothered them, often winning the ball back. Charlotte played an aggressive defensive style that often gave them the ball but also gave them 14 fouls.

Reeves praised Charlotte’s defense and said she was difficult to play against.

“They’re a really well-coached, disciplined team that doesn’t make a lot of mistakes defensively and they’re competitive,” Reeves said. “I thought we did a good job. Possession was completely even, 51-49% difference. They had five saves and we had three, and it’s annoying to give up the two goals because they were avoidable.”

A few late shots from a graduate student Victor Stromsten and Vatne gave the Phoenix hope, but the 49ers’ strong defense prevented late goals and gave Charlotte its ninth shutout of the season.

The loss continued a worrying pattern for the Phoenix as they suffered their sixth loss in their last seven games. However, Elon played some of the best in the country on this routeagainst six teams with at least seven wins. Reeves attributes their losing streak to their strength of schedule.

“We want to give our guys some exposure, and that’s why we play teams like UNCG and Duke and Charlotte, who are really good,” Reeves said. “If you can do that, you have to be almost perfect and play really, really well. I think we played pretty well in some of those games, and tonight I think we played really well.”

Elon has just two regular season games remaining, including its final home game against Northeastern University on October 26 at 7 p.m. As the postseason approaches, Reeves believes these late games against top opponents like Charlotte and Duke can help the team prepare for the postseason.

“We hope it puts us in a good mood,” Reeves said. “Every play is important and you have to compete like crazy and have real quality in the way you go about things. Because when it’s time for a conference tournament, those moments are huge because they change the game – and whether you advance and play or whether the season ends.”