The Brandeis University men’s soccer team traveled to New York to defeat their University Athletic Association rival New York University, 1-0, in the Judges final game of the 2021 season. With the win, the Judges finished their season with a 6-7-3 record, 3-2-2 in the UAA.
Following two early shots on goal from Skylah Dias ’22, the Judges scored in the 10th minute of the game off of a corner kick. Jared Panson ’22 assisted senior classmate Jake Davis ’22 who scored his first career goal to round out his collegiate career at Brandeis University; Panson concluded his career with his eighth assist.
Davis’ goal was the only goal the Judges would need offensively, as defensively the Judges earned their sixth shutout of the season. While NYU did outshoot the Judges, 14-4, the Brandeis men remained in control. The reigning Division III National Player of the Week by United Soccer Coaches, Aiden Guthro ’23, made seven saves to successfully shutout the Violets.
With their defeat over the Violets, the Brandeis men conclude their season on a high, resulting in a 2-0-1 record, all against nationally ranked teams—either currently ranked, or began the season ranked. The Judges finished in a tie for fourth place in the final UAA standings.
Overall on the season, the men finish with six wins, seven losses and three ties. They played 16 games, in which they scored 11 goals. Their shooting percentage, which is the number of goals per the number of shots on goal, is 0.469, down from 0.632 in the 2019-2020 season. Their number of goals per game also decreased from the previous season, falling from 1.47 goals per game to 0.69 goals per game. The Judges averaged 10.8 goals per game, as opposed to 15.5 in 2019. Their goals against average (GAA), which is the number of goals per game that the goalkeeper allowed, is 0.94, up from 0.7 in 2019.
The Judges made 173 shots this season, with 72 of them being on goal, resulting in a shots on goal percentage of 0.416. They took 64 corner kicks and had six shutouts against other teams. The team ended with 21 yellow cards, and no red cards. In the conference, the men had three wins, two losses and two ties, with a PCT of 0.571. The 2020-2021 season was cancelled due to COVID-19.
Aiden Gurtho ’23 was also selected as the UAA Defensive Player of the Week for the week ending Nov. 8. This is the fourth time this season that Guthro has earned the title; he has a total of 79 saves. In the conference, he is ranked sixth in goals against, with a rate of 0.94, and third in the save percentage, with 0.832.
The Judges return to action in fall 2022, when their 2022-2023 season begins.
