The Brandeis men’s soccer team picked its first road victory over a UAA opponent as the Judges defeated Carnegie Mellon 2-1 in double OT. With the win, the Judges improved to 11-5-1 (2-3-1 UAA), their best record since the 2002 campaign, on the season.
Carnegie Mellon got on the scoreboard first in the 22nd minute. Senior midfielder Kyle Young found junior forward Alex Abedian open on the right side of the box. Abedian immediately shot the ball and snuck it inside the near post past Brandeis goalie Blake Minchoff ’13 for his third goal of the season. Despite letting it in the goal, Minchoff kept the Judges in the game by stopping the next three shots on goal in the first half.
The Judges’ play was much improved in the second half and overtime outshooting Carnegie Mellon 9-7 the rest of the game. After Minchoff turned aside two potential goals in the 70th and 71st minutes, the Judges tied the game in the 75th minute. Tartans sophomore goalie Christopher Madden made a stop on an initial shot from midfielder Tyler Savonen ’15, but midfielder Theo Harris ’12 deposited the rebound past Madden for his fifth goal of the season. With the goal, Harris became the fourth Brandeis player with at least five goals this season and Savonen’s assist gives him five on the season and a team-leading 17 points.
The Judges pressured the Tartans in their offensive zone for the final 15 minutes of regulation, gaining three corner kicks and three more shots. Madden, however, stoned Savonen in the 87th minute to preserve the tie heading into overtime. Brandeis had two corners and only one shot in the first overtime but the game-winning goal came in the second overtime. After gaining a free kick, forward Lee Russo ’13 kicked the ball toward the far post of the goal. A Carnegie Mellon defender got his head on the ball but unfortunately he deflected the ball in the wrong direction, catching Madden off guard giving the Judges the victory on an own goal.
Minchoff finished the game with six saves against one goal while Madden finished with four saves against goals. The overtime loss was just the first Carnegie Mellon suffered this season. They had gone 2-0-1 in their first three overtime games.
Earlier in the week, the Judges visited Emory for a UAA matchup. Despite outshooting the Eagles 22-10, including a 15-5 advantage in the second half, the Judges were unable to score. The Eagles scored the game’s only goal in the 60th minute of play to get a 1-0 victory.
Midfielder Sam Ocel ’13 and Russo each tallied five shots, giving the pair as many shots as the entire Emory team. Ocel paced the Judges with two shots on goal while Russo suffered some bad luck having his shots deflect off the crossbar.
Emory sophomore goalie Andrew Goldblum made seven saves for the Eagles. It was just the second time this year that an opposing UAA goalie had made at least seven saves against the Judges.
Emory’s only goal came just five minutes after Goldblum denied midfielder Kyle Feather ’14, who pushed a rebound just wide after an initial save by Goldblum. The Eagles scored their goal via some sensational passing. Sophomore forward Andrew Jones passed the ball through the box to senior forward Zach Samuels, who then crossed the ball to the waiting head of junior defender David Garofalo. Garofalo then headed the ball past Minchoff for his first goal of the season.
Brandeis took 10 of their 22 shots after the Eagles scored that goal but Goldblum made two saves to keep the shutout alive. Minchoff made two saves in the losing effort.
Brandeis will wrap up their regular season Saturday afternoon when the Judges host NYU at 12 p.m. With a win over NYU, the Judges would secure their first 12-win regular season since 2000.
