Since our last recap, the women’s soccer team has played three soccer games. One of the games was away at the University of Chicago (UChicago) while the other two were at home in Waltham on Gordon Field. Each game that they played was an in-conference University Athletic Association (UAA) game as the conference continues towards crowning their champion. Unfortunately, the lady Judges were not able to come away victorious from any of these matches, though they put up a hard fight in each game.
The first game that we will recap was against the UChicago Maroons in Chicago, Illinois. This game started with an early goal by the Judges. This shot was made in the 13th minute of the match when Sam Kipperman ’26 scored her second goal of the season. This ball was served to her by none other than Rachel Watler ’25, who established a UAA-leading 8 assists on the season with that play. This goal allowed the Judges a chance to set the tone for the game and assert their dominance. However, the Maroons answered just 11 seconds later with their first goal of the game. The remainder of the first half was uneventful and subsequently led the teams into the half tied, 1-1. After the half, the Maroons took control over the Judges and out-shot them 14-5, making three shots. The game unfortunately ended with the Judges losing 4-1.
Once the Judges were back home, they hosted the Emory University Eagles on Friday, October 25th. This game kicked off the first of three that evening held on the Brandeis campus. The Judges started this game strong with three shots right out of the gates, though the Eagles found their footing and eventually found the back of the net in the 19th minute of play. The Judges tried their best to produce some promising opportunities to score, the best coming in the 85th minute by Dominique Paglia ’25. Despite their efforts, the Judges were unable to counter the Eagle’s early goal, and ultimately fell 1-0. Despite this loss, Brandeis keeper Rachel Ross (GRAD) had an impressive game as she made a career-high 11 saves to protect the Judges’ net.
In their most recent game, the Judges hosted the #25-ranked University of Rochester Yellowjackets this past Sunday, Oct. 27. This game was a hard-fought game on the Judges’ part as they held off the Yellowjackets until the final three minutes of play. The Judges were the victims of some tough luck as the Yellowjackets broke the 0-0 deadlock with just under three minutes left. As the Judges were fouled 17 times, Rochester used that to their advantage and capitalized on the opportunity. This was the Judge’s fourth 1-0 loss of the season, all of which were against fellow UAA opponents.
Looking ahead, the Judges have just two regular season games remaining. They will travel to Cleveland this weekend to face the Case Western Reserve University Spartans, and then host the New York University Violets a week later to close out their regular-season play.
