The Brandeis men’s soccer team took home a win in their first UAA conference game of the year against the Case Western Reserve University Spartans on Saturday. The Judges beat their hosts 1-0 and moved up to 4-4-1 on the year as well as 1-0-0 in UAA play while the Spartans dropped to 5-4-2 overall and 0-1-0 in the UAA.
The winning goal came from midfielder Corey Bradley ’10. This was the first goal of the season for Bradley, as well as the first goal since 2007, and the sixth of his career at Brandeis.
Bradley has been forced to miss much of the past seasons due to injuries, but so far he has managed to come back strong this year.
Thanks to the game-winning goal against Case Western as well as an assist in the game against Newbury, Bradley is listed as one of the Outstanding Athletes of the Week on the UAA website.
Keeper Matt Lynch ’10 was responsible for holding onto the shutout against the Spartans with a season-high-tying six saves. This was the first shutout of the season for the Judges and the fourth of Lynch’s career.
Brandeis outshot Case Western 7-2 in the first half, but couldn’t translate this shooting advantage into a goal until the last two minutes of play. With 72 seconds on the clock before intermission, Bradley hammered the ball from 25 yards out. The ball found its mark and sailed just under the crossbar and above the reaching fingers of goalie Ben Yabrow.
The Spartans came out strong in the second half and flipped the shooting advantage on its head.
Case outshot the Judges 10-2 in the second, including 4-2 advantage in shots on goal. Lynch stepped up to the plate, however, and stopped every ball that came at him, including two from the leading scorer, Vinny Bell ’12. This was the first conference win for Brandeis since 2006.
As Coach Michael Coven pointed out last week, this Case Western team was a force to be reckoned with and taken seriously. Just before they faced the Judges, the Spartans tied the number two team in the country, Ohio Wesleyan University. With the win the Judges moved up to fourth in the UAA standings while Case Western fell to seventh.
Brandeis went on to face Colby-Sawyer College Thursday afternoon, where they beat their hosts 3-2. The Judges extended their streak to three straight wins and moved up to .500 for the first time this season with the victory.
The winning goal came in the 81st minute off the head of forward Alexander Farr ‘12. Farr came off the bench just two minutes earlier. Forward Sam Ocel ‘13 aimed a perfect shot to Farr, who headed the ball into the net. It was his fourth goal of the season and the second game-winner. More details onthe game will follow in next week’s issue.
The Judges will host the University of Rochester Saturday at 5 p.m. to continue UAA conference play. Rochester, who have yet to lose a game this season, is currently ranked second in the UAA with an overall record of 7-0-2 and 1-0 in the UAA after taking down NYU last Saturday 1-0.
