There are two ways that a soccer team can respond to a tough loss. The first is to carry the disappointment into the next match, which typically results in a flat and uninspired effort. The second is to come out full-throttle and immediately get back on track, and that is exactly what the Brandeis Womens team did on Tuesday against Westfield State.
Rebounding from a loss to Bowdoin on Sunday, the Lady Judges dominated every facet of the game and walked away with a 7-0 victory, improving their record to 5-2-1. Spearheading the charge was midfielder Amy King 08, who tallied two goals in the first eighteen minutes and completed the hat trick with six minutes remaining. Lisa Kaplin 07 added a pair of goals in the second half, while Lauren Gregor 06 and Kim Fraser 08 also got their names on the score sheet. Goalkeepers Betsey Medow 08 and Julie Scherr 08 combined to record the shutout.
The Judges wasted little time getting their offense started, as King headed in a beautiful cross from Rachel Koffman 06 just six minutes into the game. Nine minutes later, Lauren Gregor scored her team-leading seventh goal of the season by tapping in the rebound of a Kaplin rocket that the Westfield keeper couldnt handle. King gave Brandeis a three goal lead with another brilliant header, this time following a perfect cross by midfielder Nickey Guertin 08. The Judges back line of Koffman, Melissa Gordon 07, Brittany Douglass 07, and Kalina Ehrenreich-Piot 08 held Westfield without a shot in the first half, and the whistle sounded with Brandeis up 3-0.
As the second half began, Brandeis did not let its momentum fade. In the fifty-fifth minute Kaplin took a Lizzie Bremner 08 feed and broke through the defense, easily slotting the ball underneath the charging Westfield keeper for her fifth goal of the season. She added her sixth tally of the campaign sixteen minutes later, after Margot Moinester 09 charged into the box and fed a pass across the goalmouth. Kaplin slid and connected, giving the Judges a 5-0 lead. Kim Fraser 08 continued the rout by notching a goal in the seventy-seventh minute, and King completed her hat trick and Brandeis goal scoring on a pretty give and go with Liana Petruzzi 09 with six minutes left on the clock. Westfield was never able to mount a decent attack, and finished the game with just nine shots, only one of which was threatening.
It feels really good, said King after the match. I havent been finishing lately, but it just clicked today.
When asked if she was thinking about adding her third goal during her late breakaway King said with a laugh that she definitely had hat trick on my mind. She also added that the team is really getting ready, as it heads into its University Athletic Association opener against Case Western Reserve. Goalkeeper Julie Scherr added that were ready to go and today it showed.
Earlier in the week, Brandeis suffered their second setback of the season with a 2-1 loss at Bowdoin College. The Bowdoin Polar Bears took a one goal lead into the half by virtue of a late tally by Danielle Chagnon. The lead was doubled in the sixty-third minute as a long shot caromed first off the post, then off Brandeis keeper Betsey Medow and into the back of the net. The lady Judges mounted a late surge to get themselves back into the game as Lauren Gregor pulled them to within a goal with nine minutes remaining. However, Brandeis could not find the equalizer, and the horn sounded with the Judges on the short end of a 2-1 decision.
Brandeis, ranked number seventh in New England, begins UAA conference play next week. Their next two games will be on the road, first at Case Western on October 1st, followed by a match against Tufts on October 5th. The Judges return home on Saturday, October 8th for a 2:30 PM meeting with the University of Rochester.
Editors Note: Some information is courtesy of the Brandeis Athletic Page and Adam Levin.
