PHOTO BY Max Shay/The Hoot
Wheaton, who is ranked fourth in New England, improved to 9-1-1 with their victory over the Judges. Adam Sussman ’10 scored the winning goal in the 27th minute off a free kick outside the box by Josh Solomon ’11. Solomon also got the assist on the Lyons next goal, which came just over four minutes later. He passed the ball to Pablo Mena ’12 who went on to dribble up the field and sent the ball to the back of the net from twenty yards out. Brandeis was outshot 6-3 in the first half.
The Judges doubled their shooting in the second half, but were unable to make it on the board. Kyle Gross ’11 and Joe Eisenbeis ’13 had the best chance for Brandeis in the 64th minute, but Lyons goalkeeper Cole Davidson ’11 stopped the initial shot by Gross as well as the rebound by Eisenbeis. The final goal of the game came with only seven seconds left to play. Wheaton’s Yuri Moreira ’11 headed in a ball off a throw-in by Jake Wagner ’11 to make the final score 3-0.
Matt Lynch ’11 had six saves in the game, a new season-high, but was unable to get the win. With the win Davidson got his fourth shutout of the season, also with six saves.
According to Coach Michael Coven, the officiating definitely had something to do with the loss. Brandeis managed to put one in the net to make the score 2-1 in the second half, but an official called a foul in the box and took away the goal. The official was apparently unable to name which Brandeis player had committed the foul. In addition, the final goal that came in the last few seconds also took place under a questionable call. A Wheaton player knocked rookie Lee Russo into Lynch and the ball sailed into the empty net while they were both on the ground. A foul was not called on the Wheaton player.
“Wheaton is a good team,” Coven told The Hoot. “A 2-1 loss is respectable, but 3-0 isn’t. We still had some great moments, though.”
Despite the loss, Coven was happy with other aspects of the day.
“The atmosphere at the game was tremendous,” he said. “It was good for the university to see so much school spirit out there… I want to thank Zach and the Student Government, Student Events for putting it together.”
After the disappointing loss to Wheaton, it was a completely different story Wednesday night against Newbury when the Judges defeated them 6-1. Brandeis completely dominated the game. The Nighthawks had just one shot attempted the entire game, and consequently only had a single goal. In the fourth minute Hector Aduboj ’13 fed the ball to Hayato Iwahori ’10 who blasted the shot past Lynch to get on the board first. Newbury was shut out from that point forward with Brandeis putting up 15 shots in the first period and 21 in the second. Of those 36 shots, 21 were on target.
“We’re taking it one step at a time,” Assistant Coach Gabe Margolis told The Hoot. “We needed a win and everybody got off the bench. It’s nice to be going into the conference like this.”
The first goal for the Judges came in the 20th minute. Corey Bradley ’10 broke through the offensive zone and passed the ball to rookie Matt Peabody who put it away to tie the game. Brandeis went on to take the lead with less than six minutes remaining in the first half, and never looked back from there. The game-winning goal came off the foot of Sam Ocel ’13. Ocel took the shot off a feed from Noah Bass ’12 who took advantage of a turnover in the defensive zone. This was the first collegiate goal for Ocel.
The Judges opened up the second half even stronger than they closed out the first. The next goal for the home team came in the 52nd minute. Alexander Farr ’12 took a through ball from Peabody and beat out the Nighthawks goalie William McNally in a one-on-one situation to send it to the back of the net. Just over three minutes later Peabody got his second goal of the game, his first multi-goal game of his collegiate career, and reclaimed the team scoring lead. Ocel took a shot on McNally and Peabody converted the rebound.
Brandeis added two more goals on before the end of the game. Steve Keuchkarian ’11 blasted a shot from 25 yards out off an assist by Matt Callahan ’12. The final goal came with less than four minutes to go courtesy of Ed Senibaldi ’12. Lynch allowed the only Newbury goal in the first half but did not have to make any saves after that. Blake Minchoff ’13 made his collegiate debut in the second half but did not face any shots on goal.
“A lot of teams get breaks like this, but we’re in a competitive conference and even our non-conference games are very competitive,” Coach Coven said. “I’d say we have the most difficult schedule in New England, but it’s good to play the best.”
“I would have liked to see them have a better shot percentage,” Coven added.
This weekend marks the beginning of UAA conference play and the Judges will face Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland on Saturday. Case Western is 5-3-2 on the season compared to Brandeis who is now 2-4-1.
“Case is good and it will be a good game,” Margolis said. “You could almost say this is when the real season starts.”
Coven is also expecting a good matchup against their UAA opponent. Case Western saw five seniors graduate last spring, so it’s been a bit of a different game for them. They’re winning games more games by margins like 1-0, so Coven remains optimistic.
Brandeis will face Colby-Sawyer away next Thursday, and will then host the UAA conference game against Rochester University next Saturday, Oct. 8 at 5 p.m. When asked about those games, Margolis said they’re trying to focus on the here and now.
“It doesn’t do any good to look beyond who we’re playing this weekend, particularly for conference play,” said Margolis.
As the men geared up for their last practice at Brandeis before travelling, Coven showed some pride in his team.“The team has been working really hard,” Coven told The Hoot. “The personality of the team is good, and they’re really supportive of each other. I love working with these guys.”
