Men’s soccer senior night at Rudd Field was quickly overshadowed by UNC-Greensboro’s offensive attack.

The Spartans one-two punch of Thomas Campbell and Jokull Elisabetarson combined to tally eight points in the Spartan’s 3-0 victory against the Phoenix on Saturday night.

Before the team’s final game of the regular season, Elon’s seniors received special recognition for their contributions to the program. Alex Barake, Brett Paschall, Alex Douyon, Douglas Boateng, Jon Juchno and Andrew Johnson were honored.

The celebration of their six careers yielded to the on-field battle that would decide the third seed in the Southern Conference. The Spartans applied pressure to the Phoenix defense early, contributing to what head coach Darren Powell called “a very frustrating evening.”

“UNC-G took their chances at crucial points in the game, and we didn’t score on our chances when they came our way,” Powell said.

The visiting Spartans started scoring in the 25th minute on Elisabetarson’s sixth goal of the season.

The goal was assisted by Campbell off a free kick, set up by one of Elon’s 11 fouls. UNC-G’s double-threat then reversed roles on the second goal, as Elisabetarson assisted Campbell on the team’s second goal five minutes later.

Momentum swung in favor of the Phoenix in the second half, when Elon finally created quality chances.

Shots struck just wide and deflections just over the crossbar thwarted the team’s efforts to cut the deficit. The inability to finish on the chances is something that the team and coach Powell know shouldn’t happen.

“We’ve been constantly working on it all year,” Powell said. “As of late, we haven’t been able to capitalize on enough of the chances that we’ve created.”

The Spartans put the game away for good with 1:29 left in regulation, as Campbell notched his 10th goal of the season on a free kick.

The loss is Elon’s third straight to end the season, and it drops the team from the third seed in the SoCon tournament to the fourth seed.

For the seniors, Saturday’s contest wasn’t their final game ever at Rudd Field. The team’s performance this season earned them home field advantage in the first round of the SoCon tournament. As the fourth seed, the Phoenix will host fifth seed Appalachian State on Sunday night. In their only meeting this season, Elon had no problem scoring goals against the Mountaineers, as they tallied a 4-0 shutout in front of the home crowd.

Powell said that earning home field advantage was one of the team’s goals this season. The team has a full week to prepare for its postseason match, and will try to rebuild its confidence and stop the three-game slide.

Reporter: Kris Moody - 11/07/07