In its first round of ECAC play, the fourth seeded mens soccer team overcame sloppy conditions and sloppy play to defeat fifth seed Plymouth State 1-0. It was a game that many agreed left a lot to be desired.
The games lone goal was notched by leading scorer Ben Premo 09 at the 10:29 mark thanks to a strong kick by co-captain Scott Zackaroff 07. Premo was able to split two defenders and notch his 15th goal of the season, the 25th of his career.
Scottie Zackaroff put a 30 yard ball right to my foot, all I had to do was kick it in, Premo explained afterwards.
Keeping rookie keeper Taylor Bracken 10 on edge, the Panthers had two prime opportunities, the best occurring in the 78th minute, but Plymouth States Takeru Tanikawa 08 saw his shot hit the crossbar and the rebound attempt by Steve Martus 07 went wide. Plymouth State appeared to score on a corner kick at the 82:52 mark but just as quickly as the ball bounced into the net, the linesman ruled that the ball had curved out of bounds, hence no goal. With that, Brandeis walked away the victors.
Brandeis outshot Plymouth State 17-10 and held a 7-5 edge in corner kicks. Bracken backstopped the win with two saves while PSUs Tyler Shute 09 had eight saves for the day.
Despite the win, no one was too happy with the teams performance. Coach Mike Coven called this match one of the worst games we ever played. Coven explained what needed to change for their next playoff match against Babson. We got to win the middle of the field. I think Brett [Fitzgerald 08], and David [Weinstein 07], and Joey Levitan 08 did a great job. I think our front runners did a nice job putting pressure on their goalkeepers, I think they took it to us in the middle third of the field, so I think we're going to have to give a better performance in our midfield.
Ben Premo, though, summed up what ultimately counted. They outplayed us today, we got the win today, that's all that matters.
Brandeis goes off to Wellesley on Nov. 11 to take on top-seeded Babson College. This is a match no one is underestimating. Babson will be real tough, Coven explained,.We're playing at their field, it's a big facility and they're used to it. Babson is a great team, we tied them early on in the season so it will be a good test.
The victory marked the first time Brandeis has advanced to the next round of postseason play since 1998.
