After a big win against the University of Southern Maine, the Brandeis women’s soccer team looked to continue that success as they closed the season. On Oct. 28 the Judges played against Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) in one of their final University Athletic Association (UAA) games of the season. Last year, WashU got the better of Brandeis 2-1. WashU came out firing early with an early shot on goal; however, it was saved by sophomore goalie Hannah Bassan ’25. Then on the Judges’ first shot in the 13th minute, they scored and took the lead. A cross from senior forward Juliette Carreiro ’23 found senior midfielder Caroline Swan ’23 who proceeded to score. It was Swan’s second goal of the season and Carreiro’s sixth assist of the season. The Judges lead was short-lived, though, as WashU came back and scored a goal just four minutes later. WashU nearly took the lead right after their goal, but Bassan made two big saves to keep the game tied. This proved to be key as junior forward Sydney Lenhart ’24 made a great cross in the 25th minute to forward Makenna Hunt ’23. Hunt made a move past a WashU defender before putting the ball into the back of the net. It was Hunt’s third goal of the season and Lenhart’s first assist of the season. The two teams traded shots for the rest of the half, but Brandeis held on to a 2-1 lead going into halftime. It was a nearly even game between the two teams. Each team had seven shots and three corner kicks in the first half.
As Brandeis looked to hold onto the lead, WashU got their offense going early. It took them just 23 seconds to get their first shot of the half. Ten minutes later, WashU tied the game 2-2. With momentum on their side, WashU kept attacking and ultimately scored another goal in the 65th minute to take the lead. The Judges got a few more shots off after going down, but the WashU goalie made a couple of big saves to hold their lead. In the 81st minute, Brandeis had their last opportunity to tie, but forward Bailey Cullen (GRAD) sent a shot wide of the net. After a tough game, the Judges fell to WashU 2-3.
Although the two teams were roughly even in the first half, WashU’s offense made things difficult for Brandeis in the second half. WashU outshot the Judges 8-3 in the second half and 15-10 overall. Brandeis ended up having one more corner kick than WashU, but also had two more fouls. Bassan had six saves in the game compared to the WashU goalie’s four.
Next came a game against the University of Chicago on Oct. 30. In their most recent matchup, the Judges went to Chicago and won a 3-2 thriller after scoring two goals in the second half. The first half of their matchup this year had plenty of offense. Hunt scored the first goal of the game in just the ninth minute of play. She intended to send a cross toward Carreiro, but it ended up going into the net. This was Hunt’s fourth goal of the season. Chicago answered with a goal of their own just six minutes later to tie the game. The two teams traded shots for a while before Chicago took the lead in the 35th minute. They didn’t hold that lead for long, as the Judges quickly answered with a goal in the 42nd minute right before halftime. The goal was by sophomore midfielder Dominique Paglia ’25 and it was her first goal of her career. At halftime the game was tied at 2-2 with Chicago leading the game in shots. Chicago had seven shots compared to Brandeis with four. The Judges had only two shots on goal, but they both went into the back of the net.
Ten minutes into the start of the second half, and the Judges fell behind. This wasn’t a goal, but a Brandeis player got a red card. So, they were now playing with 10 players. Chicago continued to put on the pressure, but the Brandeis defense held strong. Since they were a player down, the Judges could not get their offense going throughout the second half. However, with the great defense, the Judges successfully did not allow a goal throughout the second half. But they also didn’t score, so the game ended in a 2-2 tie.
Chicago outshot Brandeis 16-7 overall but also had just one corner kick while Brandeis had four. Senior Jessica Murawsky ’23 had one save in the game and first-year Ella Thompson ’26 had four. The two teams were relatively even in fouls as Brandeis had nine and Chicago had eight. All of Brandeis’ shots that were on target went into the goal, so Chicago had zero saves in the game.
Brandeis’ record now sits at 7-7-2 overall and 0-5-1 for UAA conference games. They will play New York University (NYU) on Nov. 5 for Brandeis’ senior night. Last year, the Judges beat NYU 2-1.
