ELON, N.C. – The reigning Colonial Athletic Association regular season champion Elon University men’s soccer team and head coach Marc Reeves announced its 2023 fall schedule on Monday, June 5.
The Phoenix is slated to play 19 games (three exhibitions, 16 regular season) this fall with eight of those contests coming on Elon’s home pitch at Rudd Field. A participant in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, the Phoenix will face five fellow teams who advanced to the national tournament on its 2023 slate.
“Our 2023 fall schedule is exceptionally challenging,” said Reeves. “Our group will need to ensure right from the start of preseason that all our focus is on preparing to perform at our best and maximizing this group’s full ability. We graduated some great people and players and had an excellent leadership group that set high daily standards. This is a new season, a new group and means we start a new process of upholding the high program standards we believe are needed to be successful. We have some tough non-conference games against great programs and the CAA, I believe, will be even stronger this year with the addition of Campbell and the new teams from last fall having gone through a campaign.”
Elon begins the fall with three exhibition matches, hosting Queens (Aug. 13) and UNC Asheville (Aug. 15) before traveling to ETSU (Aug. 18) to close out the preseason. The regular season begins with the Phoenix at the John Rennie/Nike Classic at Duke University on Friday, Aug. 25 versus Furman. Following that match, the maroon and gold hosts Jacksonville for its home-opener on Sunday, Aug. 27.
The start of September coincides with the Phoenix beginning CAA play as Elon travels to Stony Brook on Sept. 2 before hosting Monmouth a week later at Rudd Field on Sept. 9. A three-match road swing begins with the team’s travel to fellow Piedmont Triad rival and 2022 NCAA Tournament team High Point on Sept. 12 followed by a trip to South Florida on Sept. 17.
The Phoenix returns to CAA play at Drexel on Sept. 23 to close out its road trip. One week later, Elon hosts Hofstra under the lights at Rudd Field on Sept. 30. The Phoenix and the Pride will face each other in a rematch of the CAA Championship final last fall.
The month of October begins with another three-game road trip as the Phoenix treks to North Carolina (Oct. 3), Northeastern (Oct. 7) and Duke (Oct. 10). Elon will travel to Chapel Hill for the first time since 2008 in its matchup versus the Tar Heels. Last season, the Phoenix earned a 3-0 result against UNC for its first-ever win over its intrastate rival.
Elon hosts CAA newcomer Campbell on Oct. 14 before traveling to Charlotte (Oct. 18) and College of Charleston (Oct. 21) for its next two matches. The month and the regular season close out with home contests versus Greensboro College (Oct. 25) and UNCW (Oct. 28).
The 2023 CAA Championship tournament will begin with the quarterfinal rounds on Thursday, Nov. 2 at select campus sites. The league’s semifinal and championship matches are scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 5 and Saturday, Nov. 11, respectively.
Elon went 11-5-3 in 2022, capturing the CAA regular season championship outright for the first time with a 6-1-2 ledger. The Phoenix advanced to the league’s championship game for the second straight year and earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament, its first appearance to the national tournament since 2015. For his efforts, Reeves was named the unanimous CAA Coach of the Year and returns 19 letterwinners from last year’s squad.
— ELON —