On a day when one of their own was honored for her offensive achievements, the Brandeis Womens soccer team left it up to the defense to pull out a tough 2 -1 victory over Wellesley on Tuesday.
Hours after forward Lisa Kaplin 07 was named the University Athletic Associations womens soccer offensive player of the week for her goal scoring exploits in the Lady Judges previous two outings, it was the Brandeis back line of Rachel Koffman 06, Brittany Douglass 07, Margot Moinester 09, and Kalina Ehrenreich-Piot 08 that held off a late Wellesley surge to preserve the win. A late goal off a set piece was the only blemish against the Brandeis defense, and goalkeeper Betsey Medow 08 was called upon to make just a single save. With the victory, the Judges, ranked number 8 in New England this week, improved to 4-1-1 on the season.
Moinester, the lone freshman starter on the Brandeis side, commented that the defensive unit is tight off the field, and that helps communication on the field. Moinester moved from outside back into the central defense for this match due to an injury to regular starter Christine Fulton 07, and played quite spectacularly, stifling many Wellesley forays into the Brandeis zone.
While the defense was holding the Wellesley Blue off the scoreboard it was Lisa Kaplin who once again led the Judges in the offensive end. She scored three of the four Brandeis goals last week, and twenty-nine minutes into this match she recorded her fourth tally of the season. Following a scramble in the box that resulted from a Brittany Douglass throw-in, Kaplin found the loose ball and buried it into the upper left corner, well out of the reach of the Wellesley keeper. The play, however, ended on a sour note as Kaplin came down awkwardly and needed to be helped off the field. She would not play for the remainder of the half, but did return in the second with no ill effects apparent.
Lauren Gregor 06 doubled the lead for the Judges in the thirty-fifth minute, firing a left-footed shot from the top of the penalty box into the roof of the net. The goal was set up by a neat pass from Lizzie Bremner 08 that gave Gregor all the time that she needed to turn and shoot. The Judges did not surrender a shot on goal in the first forty-five minutes, and the halftime whistle sounded with Brandeis up 2-0.
Wellesley got back to within a goal with eighteen minutes left in the game as freshman Deirdre Garrahan headed in a free kick from Alison Carney, but that was as close as the match would get. Brandeis missed two big chances to tack on an insurance goal in the final minutes, and Wellesley nearly capitalized when Brandeis goalkeeper Betsey Medow misplayed a ball in front of the net. Fortunately, Margot Moinester was able to hustle back and clear the ball off the line, securing the victory for the Judges.
Brandeis next heads to Bowdoin College for a match on Sunday, September 25th before returning home for a meeting with Westfield State College on September 27th.
