As the 2023 soccer season has approached its close, the women’s soccer team played three of their four remaining regular-season games since our last publication. These games consisted of two away games, one against the Emory University Eagles and one against the University of Rochester Yellowjackets. Following this weekend of playing on the road, the Judges hosted the Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) Spartans. Though the Judges lost all three of these games, they did not go down without a fight.
The women’s soccer team began their weekend of University Athletic Association (UAA) games at Emory University on Friday, Oct. 20. This game against the Eagles was an evenly matched competition for the Judges which held especially true as there were no goals scored until less than ten minutes were remaining in the game. Though the Eagles earned 17 shots while the Judges had nine, seven of Brandeis’ goals were on goal in comparison to the six the hosts had. Despite letting up the only goal of the game in the 72nd minute, Judge Amaya Logan ’27 still had four impressive saves. Determined to tie the game up, the Judges let their aggression get the best of them which resulted in a red card. This left the Judges with only ten women on the field for the remaining 12 minutes of the game. In terms of game stats, the Judges defensive line stayed strong throughout the entirety of the match, making the Eagles offside eight times.
After the 0-1 loss against the Emory Eagles, the Judges traveled back up North to face the University of Rochester Yellowjackets on Sunday, Oct. 22. After having lost all of their UAA conference games thus far, the Judges were hoping to collect their first in-conference win of the season during this match. However, this game unfortunately unfolded nearly the same way in which the Judges’ game against Emory happened. Goalkeeper Hannah Bassan ’26 had a career game, making 11 saves, though this was not enough to stop the #12 ranked URochester Yellowjackets from winning. The only goal of the game was scored against the Judges in the 75th minute, with only 15 minutes left in the game. A solid attempt to tie the game was made by Yasla Ngoma ’24 in the 85th minute, though she was unsuccessful in this endeavor. This was the fourth time the Judges lost an in-conference game this season 0-1. In each of these games, their opponents have scored with less than 20 minutes remaining in the game. This shows the strength of the women’s soccer team and that they have been dealt some unlucky losses this season.
In their second to last game of the season, the Judges hosted the Case Western Reserve University Spartans in a home game. This game was also the senior celebration for the seniors on the Women’s Soccer team. This year, the team will be graduating Sydney Hackmeyer ’24, Sydney Lenhart ’24, Charlotte TeKrony ’24, and Yasla Ngoma ’24. Though the first half of the game started out strong, neither team produced many scoring opportunities. The Judges out-shot the Spartans 6-5 in the first half which was a promising start. The second half continued with more of the same type of play, though the Spartans broke the ice in the 73rd minute with a goal. Nearly three minutes later, they scored once more. The Judges fought back in an attempt to tie the game, though they were unsuccessful. The Judges fell 0-2 against the URochester Yellowjackets in their final home game of the season.
Looking ahead, the Judges will play their final game of the season this Saturday, Nov. 4 against the New York University Violets. The Violets are ranked #19 in Division III, which will make this game an entertaining one! The link to watch the live stream of this game is posted on the Brandeis Judges Athletics website.
