Brandeis came out on top of Gordon College 2-0 last Thursday for their first win on the road, but fell Wednesday night to the Wellesley College Blue 2-1 in overtime. With those two games the Judges moved to 5-2-2 and sixth in the University Athletic Association standings.
The game-winning goal against Gordon came in the seventh minute of play courtesy of Melissa Gorenkoff ’10 with an assist from Alanna Torre ’12. Gorenkoff, who now has 67 career points, is now in eighth place on the all-time scoring list and just three behind Tina Mowrey ’93 to tie for seventh. The only other goal of the game came in the 84th minute. Mimi Theodore ’12 got the ball away from the Gordon keeper and sent it to the net unassisted.
The Judges outshot Gordon 22-7, with 13 of those shots on target compared to 3 for Gordon. Hillary Rosenzweig ’10 tended goal for the first half for Brandeis before handing it over to Jaclyn Weinstein ’12 for the second half. Weinstein had three saves in her 45 minutes in the goal while Rosenzweig did not have to stop a single ball. Rosenzweig is still on the cusp of having the most shutouts in school history.
“It’s unfortunate Hillary didn’t get credit for the shutout,” Coach Denise Dallamora told The Hoot.
“I’ve got to get Jackie some time,” she went on to explain. “Hillary is a senior, and I want Jackie to have experience.”
While the win on the road was certainly welcomed, especially because it came on grass, which the Judges aren’t used to playing on, the loss at home Wednesday night was not.
“We played well over all last night,” Dallamora said. “There was a bit of a let down in the second half, but I can’t fault them. They’re going to make mistakes.”
Brandeis struck early in the game, getting what would be their only goal less than three minutes in. Tiffany Pacheco ’11 scored her fifth goal of the season by going one-on-one with the Wellesley keeper. The assist on the goal came from Mimi Theodore.
The Blue went without a single shot until the 39th minute, and as a result Brandeis was able to outshoot them 12-2 in the first half. The second half was much more balanced, with each team taking ten shots. Wellesley finally got on the board in the 59th minute, where the third time seemed to be the charm for the Blue. After failing to score on their first two corner kicks, Chelsea-Ann Patry ’13 took the third straight corner for Wellesley and the ball sailed into the net off a header by Erin Simons ’12. The game remained tied through the rest of the second, forcing the team into overtime.
“Their first string goalie was worse than their second,” Dallamora told The Hoot. “I think if they’d left [Katie Martore] in we would have won.”
“I’ll guess their second string girl will move up to first soon,” she added.
The Judges fell just 15 seconds into the first overtime when rookie Megan Turchi blasted the ball from 25 yards out. Her shot found the perfect spot just above Rosenzweig’s fingers, but just below the crossbar to give the Blue the win. Apparently there had been confusion on the field because the midfielders had not called their marks. It wasn’t until after Turchi got the ball that the Judges realized their error.
“We had a terrible mistake to lose the game,” Dallamora admitted. “It was inexcusable. It was at the kickoff so we were all in our defensive zone.”
Despite the circumstances of the loss, the Judges remained composed, Dallamora acknowledged. At this point in the season, they’ll just have to move on and focus on the next game ahead of them. UAA conference play opens up this weekend with Brandeis facing off against Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
“It’s a gotta win game,” Coach Dallamora said. “We need to work on making less and less mistakes.”While Case Western has a solid team, Dallamora thinks with some pressure the Judges definitely stand a chance.
“It’s hard this time of year with midterms and papers…obviously schoolwork has to come first,” Dallamora explained. “But every game is a must win game for us if we want to make it to the NCAA, to nationals.”
