After a solid start to the season, the Brandeis women’s soccer team looked to continue that success as their next stretch of games consisted of three home games and one away game. Their first game was against Emerson College. Last year, the Judges traveled to Emerson and beat them 2-0. This year, Emerson traveled to Brandeis for a game on Sept. 17.
The game did not start well for the Judges. It took just 32 seconds for Emerson to score a goal and take the lead. Brandeis responded a few minutes later as they ran down the field and had the first corner kick of the game. Junior forward Sydney Lenhart ’24 followed with a header for the first shot of the game for the Judges, but it was blocked. The Judges kept the pressure on and were awarded with a goal from senior forward Juliette Carreiro ’22 in the 12th minute. She was assisted by sophomore defender Rachel Watler ’25. It was the fourth goal of the season for Carreiro in just six games. It was Watler’s second assist of the season and career. The two teams were aggressive on both ends as Emerson threatened to take the lead again but were stopped short by a save from sophomore goalie Hannah Bassan ’25. Brandeis also almost took the lead after back-to-back shots from Carreiro and sophomore defender Morgan Collins ’25. Ultimately Carreiro’s shot hit the crossbar and Collin’s shot sailed high. Neither team proceeded to score before half time, so the score remained 1-1.
In the second half, Emerson quickly started with a shot that went wide right. Shortly after, the Judges had their first scoring opportunity of the half, but Carreiro’s shot was saved. Carreiro had another shot 10 minutes later, but it was again saved. As the game approached its end, the Judges had one more big opportunity to take the lead. Carreiro once again had a solid shot but was once again stopped by the Emerson goalie. The game ended with a score of 1-1, after both teams scored their goals in the first 15 minutes. Brandeis outshot Emerson 11-7 and had four more shots on goal. Bassan had three saves with the single goal allowed. Brandeis had seven corner kicks compared to Emerson’s zero. Carreiro’s goal was her 20th for her career as she became the 19th player in school history to reach the mark. She also moved to 16th in total points for the school with 57.
Three days later, the team traveled to Bridgewater St. University for their next game. In their matchup last year, the Judges defeated Bridgewater 2-1 after a close game. From the start of the game this year, Brandeis was all over the Bridgewater defense. Junior forward Yasla Ngoma ’24 had two shots within the first 20 minutes. Over the next three minutes, forward Bailey Cullen (GRAD), Lenhart and Carreiro all had shots, but none of them were going in. At the end of the half, the Judges were outshooting Bridgewater 11-0. The Brandeis defense was strong so Bridgewater could not get their offense going. Brandeis, on the other hand, had plenty of shots but no goals. The Bridgewater goalie was phenomenal in the first half with seven saves. In the second half, the Judges again had plenty of offense. It took seven minutes and six shots before they finally scored. Lenhart scored an unassisted goal for her third goal of the season. Finally, the tie had been broken. This lead did not lead to Brandeis holding back. They continued to push their offense and in the 58th minute, Ngoma scored to put the lead to 2-0. This was Ngoma’s first goal of the season and was assisted by Carreiro’s third assist of the season. The Judges continued to attack for the rest of the game but could not score another. After beating them last year 2-1, this time the Judges defense didn’t even allow a single goal.
Brandeis outshot Bridgewater 23-3 and had 12 more shots on goal. First-year goalie Ella Thomson ’26 had two saves and her first career clean sheet. The Judges also had seven corners compared to Bridgewater’s zero. Lenhart’s goal was her third game-winner of the season and the eighth goal of her career.
On Sept. 22, the Judges faced Roger Williams University for their fourth home game of the season. Their unbeaten streak was sitting at four games after going 1-2 in the first three games of the season. It was evident early in the game that the offense from their previous game against Bridgewater was carrying over into this one. Ngoma and freshman defender Briar Grady ’26 both had shots within the first 10 minutes. After four more shots from the Judges, they got their first goal of the game from another goal from Carreiro in the 29th minute. It was her fifth goal of the season and was assisted by Grady. This was Grady’s first assist of the season and career. A couple fouls from both teams before the first half came to a close. Brandeis was clearly dominating on offense with nine shots compared to Roger Williams’ zero. Ngoma got the second half started with a few shots, before Carreiro scored again. In the 59th minute, Carreiro notched her sixth goal of the season. The goal was unassisted and gave Brandeis a 2-0 lead. Brandeis’ defense continued to play well as they held the shutout until the 76th minute. At that point, Roger Williams made a good run before scoring a goal to cut their deficit to one. All of a sudden the Brandeis lead wasn’t so comfortable. However, the Judges put all the doubt away when senior Morgan Clark ’23 scored a goal in the 78th minute to bring back the two-goal lead. It was Clark’s first goal of the season and third of her career. Her goal was assisted by Watler’s third assist of the season. Roger Williams almost closed the deficit again with a goal in the 88th minute but was called offside after a deflection into the goal. Brandeis continued their unbeaten streak to five with a 3-1 victory.
The Judges offense and defense were once again very strong. Brandeis had 24 shots compared to Roger Williams’ two. Eleven of the Judges shots were on target as Roger Williams’ goalie had eight saves. Thomson had one save and got her second win of the season. Brandeis had six corner kicks compared to Roger Williams’ two, however the Judges had three more fouls than Roger Williams. Carreiro helped lead the team to victory as she scored two goals in a game for the third time in her career. She continues to move up the Brandeis leaderboards in points and goals. Her 22 career goals now put her 16th and 62 career points has her in 14th all-time. Her first goal was also her ninth career game winning goal.
In their final game before University Athletic Association (UAA) games are played, the Judges faced Lesley University for a home game on Sept. 27. Last year, the Judges beat Lesley in a thrilling game that saw Brandeis take the lead in the 85th minute to win the game 2-1. This year’s game started off similarly as Brandeis got on the board early with a goal by Ngoma in the 10th minute of the game. Ngoma was assisted by a cross from Hunt, for her second goal of the season. It was Hunt’s fourth assist of the season and 11th of her career. The Judges kept the pressure on with constant shooting. They broke through after a fast start from a free kick allowed Brandeis to get into position to score. Swan and Carreiro combined to get the ball into the box for sophomore midfielder Dominique Paglia ’25. Her shot attempt was put into the net by senior midfielder Jess Herman ’23. Carreiro had her fourth assist of the season and Paglia had her first. This was Herman’s first goal of the season and fifth of her career. The score at half time was 2-0 in favor of Brandeis. They had complete control offensively as they were outshooting Lesley 11-2 in the first half. The second half had more back and forth. Lesley was more competitive offensively, while the Judges continued to take shots on goal. Brandeis added the final goal of the game in the 83rd minute off a great free kick from Swan. Collins was able to take advantage of the free kick, as she scored a header to make the score 3-0. It was Collins’ first goal of the season and of her career, while this was Swan’s third assist of the season. Lesley could not get any offense going within the last seven minutes, as Brandeis won the matchup again 3-0.
The Judges nearly had three times the number of shots Lesley had with 22 compared to Lesley’s eight. However, only nine of those 22 were on target. Carreiro led the team in shots with five overall and two on goal. Bassan had a very strong game with five saves and a shutout. It was her second shutout of the season and fifth of her career. Brandeis had 10 corner kicks in the game, while Lesley had zero.
Brandeis will travel to Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) next for their first UAA game of the season on Oct. 1. Last year, CWRU took the lead in the 47th minute and beat the Judges 2-1. However, this Judges team is different. Their overall record is 6-2-1 and they have not lost a game in six consecutive competitions. Their last loss was all the way back on Sept. 7 against Babson. Since then, they have had five wins and one tie. Four of those five wins were won by two or more goals. The Judges will then return home to face Carnegie Mellon University for homecoming on Oct. 8.
