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Women’s soccer starts the season with close battles

Last year the Brandeis women’s soccer team had a very good overall year. The team went 12-5-2 but ultimately fell short during the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament. This year, the team looked to build off that previous year success as they started the season against their most recent opponent. The women’s soccer team faced Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in their first game of the season on Sept. 1, in a rematch of their game in the second round of the NCAA tournament the season before. Last time MIT got the better of them 2-0. 

The away game had a tough start for the Judges, as they allowed a goal in just the seventh minute of the game. Although they were down quickly, Brandeis quickly turned to go on the offensive to even the score. A few minutes after the goal, forward Bailey Cullen (GRAD) had a shot that sailed high. Cullen is a recent transfer student from the University of Notre Dame, so this was her first shot for Brandeis. Forward Makenna Hunt (GRAD) had a shot shortly after but also sent the ball over the goal. MIT kept the pressure on the Brandeis defense with three corner kicks in the first half. Cullen had another scoring opportunity but again sent the shot high. In the 38th minute, the Judges tried to tie the game up with two big scoring chances. The first came from a shot by senior midfielder Caroline Swan ’23 for the Judges first shot on target. It was saved but Brandeis attacked again. This time with a shot by junior forward Sydney Lenhart ’24, but again it was saved by the MIT goalie. At half time, Brandeis trailed 0-1. Just a few minutes into the second half, the Judges came out firing on offense. Hunt and senior forward Juliette Carreiro ’22 both had shots that ended up wide. It seemed like the offensive momentum was on the Judges side. Then in the 51st minute, Brandeis committed a foul in the penalty box. MIT was awarded a penalty shot and they had the opportunity to give Brandeis a two-goal deficit. With a swift goal, MIT scored on the penalty and put the Judges in a very difficult position. Although the game seemed to be slowly slipping away, Carreiro and Cullen worked together to score the first goal of the season for Brandeis in the 56th minute. It was Carreiro’s 17th career goal and Cullen’s first Brandeis assist. MIT responded by constantly being on the attack for the rest of the game. Brandeis got just two more shots off for the rest of the game. One of the shots came when Carreiro had an opportunity in the 85th minute to tie the game. The shot was on target but ultimately saved by the MIT goalie. Brandeis couldn’t get another shot off and ended up losing 1-2 in their first game of the season. Both teams had the same number of shots with 10, but eight of those shots were on target for MIT compared to the Judges’ four. Brandeis freshman goalie Ella Thompson ’26 had six saves in her Brandeis debut. 

Three days later on Sept. 4, Brandeis traveled to Lasell University to play their second game of the season. Last time the two teams faced off, the Judges ended up winning 6-0. Brandeis must have had some of that residual offensive power as they were flying on offense throughout the game. In the first 10 minutes alone, the Judges had four shots with two on goal. One from sophomore defender Ali Karafotias ’25, Swan, Cullen and Hunt. Swan and Karafotias’ shots were on target but ultimately saved by the Lasell goalie. The shots from Brandeis just kept coming throughout the half. It felt like the Judges had a shot every five minutes. At half time they had 17 shots compared to Lasell’s three. Even with stellar offense and defense, they could not take the lead. So, after half time they just had to be even better. Again, a ton of shots and great defense from Brandeis to start the second half. After 72 minutes of constant offense from Brandeis, they scored a goal. Lenhart scored her fifth career goal from Hunt’s eighth career assist. It took only four minutes before the Judges scored another. This time Hunt scored with assists from Carreiro and Swan. It was Swan’s 12th career assist and Carreiro’s 16th. Additionally, this was Hunt’s 13th career goal after four years playing for Brandeis. The rest of the game was a lot of shots from Brandeis but ultimately no more goals. Brandeis won their second game of the season 2-0. Lasell could not get anything going offensively against the Judges’ defense. They only had five shots compared to Brandeis’ 34. 14 of those 34 shots were on target from Brandeis, while none of Lasell’s shots were on target. Therefore, sophomore goalie Hannah Bassan ’25 got the clean sheet without having to make a save. 

In the first home game of the season the Judges faced Babson College on Sept. 7. Last year the two teams faced, and the result was a 1–1 tie. Brandeis kept the offensive momentum from the last game as Cullen scored a goal within the first two minutes of the game from an assist by Hunt. This was Cullen’s first Brandeis goal and Hunt’s second assist of the season. In the 16th minute Swan had a shot on goal that was saved by the Babson goalie. Babson quickly turned around and had their second shot of the game. The shot goes in and ties the game at 1-1. Brandeis had the chance to take the lead back two minutes later when they got fouled in the penalty box. However, Cullen could not convert on the penalty shot and the game remained tied. The two teams remained evenly matched for 16 minutes until Babson scored another goal in the 32nd minute. This gave Babson the 2-1 advantage going at the end of the first half. The two teams traded shots, but no one scored until the 69th minute, when Babson scored their third goal of the game. It seemed like the game might just be out of reach for Brandeis. Two minutes later on a corner kick from Swan, Hunt scored her second goal of the season. The Judges were back in the game. Suddenly, the momentum was on the Judges’ side. 10 minutes later the Judges had an opportunity to tie the game after another foul by Babson in the penalty box. This time Swan stepped up to take the penalty kick. After a quick runup, she put the ball in the bottom left corner just barely past the goalie to tie the game at 3-3. A miraculous comeback that spanned just over 10 minutes. However, the comeback proved to be in vain as Babson scored another goal a few minutes later to give them the lead. This time the Judges could not answer and ended up losing 3-4. Hunt and Swan both had an incredible game with a goal and assist each. Brandeis outshot Babson 13-11 and even had three more shots on goal. Thompson had three saves for Brandeis in the game. 

The women’s soccer team will play at home again on Sept. 10 in a game against Johnson and Wales University. They will stay in Massachusetts and play an away game at Clark University on Sept. 13.

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