The 13th ranked Brandeis women’s soccer team faced a tough weekend, going against top-ranked Washington University and 10th ranked Chicago University.
In their first contest, Friday Oct. 26 in St. Louis, the Judges held off Washington University for most of the regulation time until the Bears scored with less than a minute remaining before overtime to take the conference match 1-0. The Judges and Bears played a tight first half, with WashU. owning an 8-3 advantage in shots. The only shot on goal for the Judges came from Daria Bakhtiari ’21 in the 24th minute.
The Bears turned up their pressure in the second half, outshooting the Judges by 12-0. Despite the big disadvantage, the Judges were still able to withstand the pressure of the Bears up until the final minute of play. Sierra Dana ’20 finished with six saves for the game, one shy of her season best.
After flying to Chicago on Saturday, Oct. 27, the Judges faced another tough UAA opponent on Sunday, Oct. 28. This time they came out victorious against the Chicago Maroons in a big win.
The teams went toe to toe in the first half, with eight shots each and a 4-3 edge in shots on goal for the Judges. However, Chicago had the 5-1 upper hand in corner kicks.
The second half was also a back and forth affair until Brandeis broke through in the 70th minute. Rookie Lauren Mastandrea ’22 sent a terrific ball to Sam Volpe ’19. Volpe took a touch around the charging Chicago keeper and fired the ball into the open net for her third goal of the season. The assist was Mastandrea’s fourth of her rookie campaign, all coming in UAA contests.
Chicago ended up outshooting Brandeis, 18-15, but the Judges put 10 of their shots on goal, compared to just six for the University of Chicago. Chicago did, however, hold the advantage in corner kicks with 8-2.
Dana was impressive in the box, playing in front of Chicago’s hometown crowd, she improved to 11-3 on the season with six saves. It was the second straight game she finished one save shy of her season best, the shutout was Dana’s fourth of the season and 10th of her career.
Brandeis had not defeated Chicago since 2009 and had not won in the Windy City since 2008. The Judges reached the 12-win plateau for the fifth year in a row and improve to 12-3 overall, 4-2 in the UAA.
The Judges close out the regular season next Saturday afternoon on Nov. 3 at New York University at 2:30 p.m.
