After a 0-0 draw against Western New England, the Brandeis men’s soccer team faced a tough stretch of four games within a single week. Following these four games, the team ended up with a record of 1-3-1 to start the season. Each game was very close with two of them even entering overtime. The first game of this tough stretch came against Hobart College, three days following a double-overtime draw against Western New England. 

The game against Hobart occurred on Sep. 4 and was played at Keene State as a part of the Keene State/Home Depot Classic tournament. Unfortunately, the Judges fell to Hobart College 0-1. Both teams played solid games defensively as the only goal came in the 22nd minute off a corner kick. The Judges did not take a shot in the first half, while Statesman took five shots. Out of those five shots taken, only one shot was on target, and it was the only goal of the game. In the second half the Judges outshot the Statesman five to two, but unfortunately could not put anything into the net. None of the shots from the Statesman were on target in the second half. Forward John Loo ’25 took three of the five shots from Brandeis with one of them being on target. The only other shot on target from the Judges came from sophomore forward Max Horowitz ’24. Junior goalie Aiden Guthro ’23 did not have a save in the game as the only shot on target from Hobart College went into the net. Both teams committed 10 fouls each and had two yellow cards each. It was a tough fought defensive game for both teams that ultimately ended with a one-goal difference. 

In the other game of the Keene State/Home Depot Classic tournament, the Judges faced Keene State and got a win in overtime. The Judges’ defense continued to be solid as they allowed zero goals and led the team to a 1-0 victory. Both teams combined to have 18 shots in two full halves of the game. However, the Owls had zero shots on goal. Following the completion of the first 90 minutes, the game went into overtime, where junior midfielder Khalil Winder ’23 scored an unassisted goal in the 99th minute and sent the team home happy. Winder had six total shots in the game, with three of them being on target. Guthro again did not have a save in the game as none of the Owls’ shots were on target. Surprisingly, the Owls committed 25 fouls in the game, compared to the Judges’ 6. 

Game four of the season came against Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) on Sep. 8. In this loss, the Judges struggled to get solid shots on goal. This resulted in a 0-1 loss to WPI. Guthro had a strong game with seven saves and allowed only one goal. This goal unfortunately was the game-deciding one. In the first two halves of the game, the Judges were getting outshot by WPI 9-13. This carried over into overtime where the Judges were unable to get a shot off and allowed WPI to score a goal in the 98th minute to seal the win. Out of the nine shots that the Judges took in the game, only two of them were on target. Freshman forward Gabriel Haithcock ’25 and senior midfielder Skylah Dias ’22 were the only two Brandeis players to get a shot on goal. 

The final game of the tough four-game stretch came against Babson College. In this game, the Judges were once again shut out and ended up losing 0-1. The Beavers were putting pressure on the Judges from the start, as they had eleven shots in the first half alone. They then had another eight shots in the second half. Guthro did his best by saving six of the seven shots the Beavers had on goal, but he conceded a goal in the 41st minute which ended up being the game winner. Brandeis only managed to take four shots in the game with two of them being on target. The two shots on target came from Loo and freshman midfielder Toby Marwell ’25. This game was the fourth game already this season the Judges had been shut out. The only goal of the season so far came against Keene State in overtime. After this tough week, the schedule does not let up as the Judges will play games against Tufts University, Wheaton College and Bates College all in the same week. They first play Tufts on Saturday, Sep. 18.