Elon men's soccer played its inaugural season in the fall of 1972 with Charles Harris serving as the Fightin' Christians' first head coach.

Faced with the challenge of building a program virtually from scratch, Coach Harris and the Fightin' Christians had mixed results.

After debuting with a 2–1 victory over Greensboro College on October 13, 1972, the team would lose its last four games to finish the inaugural season with a 1–4 record.

When Harris relinquished the reins following the 1977 season, Elon was still seeking its first winning-season in men's soccer.

[5] A 6–6 (2–4 CIAC) record in 1976 stood as the best season in the brief history of Elon soccer as Steve Ballard took over as head coach in the Fall of 1978.

The Fightin' Christians rebounded in 1979 to finish the decade with the first winning season in program history with an 8-6-2 (2-3-1 CIAC) record.

The 1980 campaign marked the first winning season in CIAC play for the Fightin' Christians as the team went 6–1 in conference matches (8–8 overall).

Coming off a somewhat disappointing 1986 campaign, in which they finished 9-8-1 (3-4-1 CIAC)and lost to Guilford in PKs in the playoffs, the 1987 team was ready to prove that the previous year was a fluke.

Despite losing 1–0 to West Virginia Wesleyan in the NAIA Area VII Tournament, the team still had one of the most outstanding seasons in program history.

[5] Elon's final year as a member of the NAIA in 1988 ended with the Fightin' Christians claiming another District 26 Championship and finishing with a record of 14-4-2 (4-2-2 CIAC).

They rode this prolific defense all the way to the second round of the NAIA Area VII Regional Tournament, where they ultimately fell to Alderson-Broaddus 3–0.

[5] 1988 signaled the end of an era for Elon soccer, as the school would transition to NCAA Division II and the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) in 1989.

Similar to its newly adopted mascot, the Phoenix, Elon soccer looked to "rise from the ashes" and emerge stronger than ever in the 2000s.

[5] A Phoenix is, of course, a bird of myth which burns at the end of its life and rises from the ashes "reborn and renewed, with strength forged in fire".

[5] The Phoenix holds a special symbolic connection with Elon University itself as well because the school almost completely burned down in 1923, only to "rise from the ashes" stronger than ever.

The teams finished 1-5-1 in SoCon play both years, and after five seasons in Division I the Phoenix were still searching for a winning record(both overall and in-conference).

For his efforts, Powell was honored as one of the top NCAA Division I assistant coaches by College Soccer News.

The 2006 squad kept the momentum going, and clinched Elon soccer's first winning season in Division I finishing 10-8-2 (3-3-1 SoCon).

The Phoenix continued to build in 2007 going 8-7-4 (4-3-0 SoCon)including a tie against top-ranked, and eventual national champion, Wake Forest.

[5] The 2008 Phoenix stumbled out of the gate 2-7-1 against a difficult non-conference schedule, but hit their stride as SoCon play began.

Although the team fell short of its ultimate goal, the SoCon regular season championship was the first DI league title for Elon.

But the Phoenix recovered to win six of the next eight, a stretch which included narrow 2-1 losses to nationally ranked ACC foes Wake Forest and Duke.

Elon's Steven Kinney hopes to follow in the tradition of SoCon legends like Dempsey and Clark by making his mark as a professional.

"[9] A native of Norcross, Georgia, Kinney started in 78 games for the Phoenix, and he was named first-team All-Southern Conference three times.