The Brandeis women’s soccer team traveled to Gorham, Maine, where they twice overcame a deficit to defeat the University of Southern Maine 5-3. For the game, Brandeis outshot the hosts 26-11 and first-year keeper Ella Thomson ’26 tallied three saves, improving to 3-2 on the season. Graduate transfer Bailey Cullen (GRAD) dominated offensively earning University Athletic Association (UAA) Offensive Player of the Week honors in her outstanding non-conference performance; Cullen helped the Judges defeat the hosts with a hat trick—the first for a Brandeis woman since October 2017. The Judges advanced to 7-6-1 with this non-conference win, snapping the Huskies’ 12-game winning streak.
In the seventh minute of the game, Southern Maine opened the scoring, but the Huskies’ lead lasted all of 12 seconds, as Cullen crossed the ball to junior Sydney Lenhart ’24 who secured the goal, equalizing the match. In the 19th minute, Southern Maine converted a through-ball, regaining their advantage, but before heading into halftime, senior Caroline Swan ’23 sent the ball into the box on a long free kick where Cullen corralled the ball off a deflection for her first goal of the game and Judges’ second. After failing to clear the ball early in the second half, the Huskies suffered the consequences, as Cullen hammered it home, giving the Judges the lead for good in the 51st minute of the game.
Juliette Carreiro ’23 recorded an assist in the road win against the Huskies, as she crossed the ball to Cullen who completed the hat trick in the 64th minute. While the Judges had a 4-2 lead, Southern Maine did not surrender and successfully scored from distance in the 84th minute, banging a high shot off the far-right post to decrease the two-goal deficit. Yasla Ngoma ’24 recorded the last goal of the game with just under two minutes to play; Ngoma’s third goal of the season secured the Judges win on the road, 5-3, while also putting an end to their five-match losing streak.
The Brandeis women’s soccer squad start a three-match UAA homestand on Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. against Washington University. The Judges look to pick up three consecutive conference wins on Gordon Field.
