GREENSBORO, N.C. – After 110 scoreless minutes in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Division I Tournament, UNC Greensboro (UNCG) men's soccer advanced past Triad foe Elon, 4–3, in penalty kicks Thursday night at UNCG Soccer Stadium. 

 
HOW IT HAPPENED      

The Spartans' offense came out of the gates looking for chances early as they took five shots and had three corners in the first 20 minutes of action. In the ninth minute, Steven Hernandez fired a shot that got blocked and bounced to a waiting Enzo Dovlo who took a chance at goal but missed wide. UNCG continued to pepper the goal as they rounded out the first half with 11 shots to Elon's one for a 0-0 score.  

The Blue & Gold continued to mount the pressure in the second half, with seven shots to the frame to the Phoenix two. Elon goalkeeper Jackson Leavitt, an All-CAA First Team selection, proved his status with six saves—three of them in the second half to withstand the UNCG surge.  The Spartans' most dangerous opportunity came in the 73rd minute when Téva Lossec rifled a shot at the goal, but the Phoenix keeper stood his ground and parried the shot out of bounds as regulation ended at 0-0.  

Both overtime periods saw continued deadlock, as a shot for Colton Sessoms in the 98th minute was saved again by Elon's goalkeeper to end the first overtime. The second overtime saw a dangerous counterattack by Elon in the 104th minute that gave a one-on-one to the streaking attacker and goalkeeper Seth Wilson. Wilson made the clutch save late to keep the score at 0-0 and force penalty kicks.   

After a miss on the first and a make on the second by Elon, UNCG seniors' Arnaud Tattevin and Magnus Kjoller sank theirs for a 2-1 advantage.  With a chance to tie and force UNCG to make its own to keep the advantage, Wilson made a huge save to hold the advantage for the Spartans. After a UNCG miss then each team earning one penalty each, Fritz stepped up to the spot with the score tied three to three to win the match. Fritz ran up to the spot and coolly buried a shot past the All-Conference keeper to win the game for the Spartans 4-3 in penalty kicks.   
    
BY THE NUMBERS     

• The last UNCG penalty shootout win in an NCAA match was on Nov. 27, 2022, when UNCG took down #5 Standford 3-1 in penalties. 

• UNCG outshot Elon, 23-4.  

• The Phoenix had six saves to the Spartans one.  

• UNCG had the advantage in corners logging nine in the match to Elon's four.  

• The Spartans seniors played a huge role in the win, with Daniel Longo, Lossec and Sami Lachekar each logging all 110 minutes in the match.  

Records:      

UNCG: 12-4-5, (3-2-0 SoCon)    
Elon: 9-3-7, (4-1-3 CAA)      
       

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UP NEXT    
UNCG will travel to Charlottesville, Virginia, on Sunday, Nov. 23 to take on the No. 2 overall seed Virginia at 5:00 p.m.