Coming off a loss against Tufts that broke their seven-game winning streak, the Brandeis men’s soccer team reclaimed their confidence with a 6-0 sweep against Wentworth. The showdown on Wednesday night took place on Gordon Field, as the Judges improved their record to 8-1 while the Leopards fell to 1-7.
Ranked #25 in the nation by the NCSAA and #9 by D3soccer.com, the Judges dominated the non-conference game against visiting Wentworth where five different Brandeis players scored. Junior forward Tyler Savonen ’15 scored two goals, the team’s second and fifth of the game.
With his second multi-scoring game of his career, Savonen earned the 27th position on the Judges’ career top 30 scoring list with 17 goals and 12 assists, securing 46 points in total. His 16th career goal came in minute 25 in the first half and goal 17 came in minute 53 of the second half.
The first goal came in the 11th minute by junior forward Michael Soboff ’15. Soboff, a transfer student to Brandeis, nailed his third goal of the season and his Brandeis career as the game’s first shot on frame for the Judges. Rookie forward Evan Jastremski ’17 exhibited some fancy footwork and made a cross into the box where Soboff, in good position, one timed it into the goal.
Savonen’s first goal came in the game after Brandeis regained possession in the 25th minute after a shot by Wentworth that got blocked by Brandeis goalkeeper Kenn Fryer ’16. Senior defender Ben Applefield ’14 worked free at the top of the box and fed Savonen the ball around the 10-yard line. Savonen’s strike into the back of the net signified his second goal of the season.
The third goal came in minute 35 off a corner kick by Applefield that found forward Sam Ocel ’14 for a diving header. Ocel’s second goal of the season came when the floater by Applefield reached Ocel in position to lunge forward and dive to head the ball into the net. Though the Judges had another close opportunity to score in the first half when a shot by forward Tudor Livadaru ’14 hit the crossbar, the Judges went to halftime with a 3-0 score.
The next two goals for Brandeis came within two minutes of each other early into the second half. The fourth goal came in minute 52 following a corner kick by midfielder Kyle Feather ’14. The ball deflected by a defender got recovered by Feather who split defenders and ripped a shot from 12 yards into the right netting of the goal.
A minute later, Savonen scored his second goal of the game and the fifth goal for Brandeis. Assisted by Soboff, who earned three points for the game, Savonen’s third goal of the season was struck from just inside the box.
The Judges had a close call in the 65th minute when the Leopards had a near scoring opportunity. Following two corner kicks that put Fryer and the Judges under pressure, one shot by a Wentworth player hit the crossbar and nearly cost Brandeis a goal.
The final goal for the Judges came in minute 79 of the game. After just being substituted into the game, rookie forward Zach Viera ’17 scored the first goal of his career off a feed by forward Michael Chaput ’16. The pass by Chaput found Viera just inside the six-yard box where he took a shot that got deflected into the far corner of the net.
Holding the Leopards off for the rest of the game, the Judges had a total of 18 shots for the game, 10 of which were on goal, compared to the Leopards who only had one on frame. Fryer was only forced to make one save for the match, compared to the Wentworth goalkeeper who had to make four.
The Judges will try to continue their new winning streak next Tuesday in another non-conference matchup against Wheaton College on the road.
