It was a tough two game stretch for the Judges this week as they dropped two in a row. Coming off a 2-0 win against Springfield on Wednesday, Sept. 5, the Judges were back in action Saturday, Sept. 8 against the Babson Beavers where they lost the weekend game 0-2.
The second loss came in a match where goals were hard to come by, needing overtime to decide the game. The Judges fell short Tuesday, Sept. 11, with the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) Engineers netting the decisive goal in overtime to win the match.
Babson has been a long time out of conference rival for the Judges. Dating back to 1955, Saturday’s match was the 67th in the series between Babson and Brandeis. The fourth-ranked Judges lost the game, with a score of zero to the Beavers’ two. The Babson Beavers scored both goals in the second half. Good goalkeeping was key for the Beavers as all seven shots on goal by the Judges in the last 45 minutes were saved.
Greg Irwin ’20 made four saves for the Judges and kept the score even in the first half with a diving save in the 30th minute. Babson recorded only two shots on goal in the opening half, doing most of their damage in the second half, getting on the board in the 57th minute and just over 11 minutes later scoring their second goal of the game.
Brandeis rookie Isaac Mukala ’22 had his header deflected off the crossbar and out of play in the 70th minute. For the rest of the game, the Judges were not able to get through the solid defense and goal keeping down the stretch.
However, traveling to WPI Tuesday night, the Judges were looking to bounce back after their tough loss to Babson. This non-conference match needed an overtime, going 1-1 through regular play. The decisive goal was delivered in the second minute of overtime play, giving WPI the win past the higher ranked Judges.
Goals were hard to come by in this game. Shots were even at 6-6 with the Judges owning a 3-1 advantage on-net in the opening half of the match. In the second half, the WPI Engineers had the slight 6-5 advantage as both teams recorded only one shot on goal. These shots on goals for the Judges came from Josh Handler ’19, rookie Skylah Dias ’22 and Max Breiter ’20, who each recorded at least one shot on goal.
Goalkeeper Irwin made two saves in the losing effort. This was the fourth-straight overtime match between the two teams. It was WPI’s first win over the Judges since 2009.
After dropping two in a row this week the Judges will have a week off, looking to get back on the winning track Tuesday, Sept. 18 as they will host Massachusetts Maritime Academy at 4 p.m.
