Since our last publication, the women’s soccer team has closed out their 2024 season. Though they lost their final match of the season, they came away with a winning record of 9-7-1, and the accomplishment of being ranked in the top 25 for Division III women’s soccer. The season may not have concluded the way that they may have hoped for, yet the team had a very successful year, bearing many stats to be proud of.
This final game of the season was at home on Gordon Field here in Waltham, MA against the New York University (NYU) Violets. As this game was at home, the senior Judges on the team were celebrated as it was their final game on home turf. Seven Judges were honored in a pre-game commemoration of the special occasion: Elspeth Harker ’26, Dominique Paglia ’25, Sydney Lenhart (GRAD), Rachel Watler ’25, Hanna Bassan ’25, Rachel Ross (GRAD) and Aki Yamaguchi ’25.
After the celebration of the seniors, the game kicked off to a great start for the Judges as they scored the only goal of the first half and went into halftime with a promising lead. Their goal came in the 23rd minute of play when Laurene Creteau ’28 made contact with a corner kick ball which got deflected. Luckily, Lenhart (GRAD) was in the right place at the right time as she blasted the deflected ball into the back of the NYU net. This was her second goal of the season, and the 16th and final goal of her career. After coming back from an injury, this goal was surely the cherry on top of Lenhart’s senior game. After this shot, the rest of the first half was relatively quiet despite the Violets out-shooting our Judges 10-5.
In the second half, the Judges were faced with an even more aggressive approach from the Violets as they were only allowed two shots in the entire half. The Violets opened up offensively and made an aggressive 15 shots on the Brandeis goal. Through these 15 shots, two of them unfortunately found the back of the Judges’ net. The first NYU goal came in the 52nd minute. After that, the game was looking as though it may conclude in a 1-1 tie. However, the #18-ranked NYU Violets were able to capitalize on an opportunity that came in the 80th minute, scoring their winning goal with only ten minutes left in the game. The Judges were unfortunately unable to find an answer as they subsequently lost the game 2-1.
Coming away from this game, the Judges have a solid season to look back upon. They also have a particularly promising set of rising sophomores, juniors and seniors that will certainly carry their momentum into the coming seasons for Brandeis Women’s Soccer.
