After losing 1-0 to the Carnegie Mellon University Tartans last Friday and falling 3-0 to the Emory University Eagles on Sunday in University Athletic Association (UAA) play, the Judges snapped their four-game losing streak by taking down the Springfield College Pride on Wednesday 3-1. The Judges are now 5-8-1 overall and 1-3 in conference play.
The only goal of the game came at the 8:16 mark by midfielder Pat Lutz ’10, his seventh goal of the season, off an assist by midfielder Ryan Brown ’10. Browne got the ball to Lutz who dribbled past a defender to get a high shot into the net. The rest of the game remained scoreless thanks to a career-high eight saves by keeper Matt Lynch ’11 and some great defense by the Judges. The defensive combination kept the UAA’s leader scorer Ricky Griffin to just two shots on goal. Griffin has 17 goals on the year so far. The Tartans outshot the Judges 17-6 overall and 9-1 in shots on goal.
Carnegie Mellon is 13-1 on the season and 4-0 in conference play. They are also currently ranked ninth in the nation for Division III teams according to the NCAA. The University of Rochester, another UAA rival, is ranked 13th.
The Judges travelled south to Atlanta to face Emory on Sunday, but suffered another shutout loss. The game-winning goal came in the 34th minute by Zach Samuels who had a breakaway after stealing the ball at midfield. The Eagles tacked on two more goals, one with just a few seconds left in the first half and another in the 5th minute off a penalty kick. Lynch had two saves in the loss, and Brandeis held an 11-9 shooting advantage in the game but weren’t able to translate those shots into goals.
After the disappointing losses in conference play, the Judges faced off against Springfield. Both teams went into the match with a four-game losing streak. Brandeis struck first when forward Alexander Farr ’12 converted a loose ball in the box into a goal in the 17th minute of play. The assist went to classmate David McCoy, the first of his career.
The eventual game-winning goal came in the 59th minute courtesy of forward Luke Teece ’12. Teece had a breakaway up the side and put the ball into the back of the net unassisted. The final Brandeis goal came less than five minutes later when midfielder Kyle Gross ’11 headed a cross from Corey Bradley ’10 into the net. This was Gross’ first goal of the season.
The hosts responded in the 72nd minute and finally got on the board, but they could only get one goal out of Lynch. He recorded four saves for the win while Chris Walton had five for the Pride in the loss.
The Judges will face off at home against Lasell College in their last non-conference game on Tuesday at 7 p.m. before hosting the final three UAA games of the regular season.
