The Brandeis women’s soccer team is now 1-2-1 in University Athletic Association (UAA) play after tying the Carnegie Mellon Tartans last Friday 1-1 and beating the Emory Eagles on Sunday 4-2. The Judges’ overall record has improved to 7-4-3.
Despite attempts by both sides, the game between the Judges and Tartans remained scoreless into the second half. In the first half, Carnegie Mellon had six shots and Brandeis managed four, but neither team was able to get the ball to the back of the net. Midfielder Mimi Theodore ’12 was finally able to break onto the board in the 66th minute. Theodore found herself one-on-one with Tartan goalie Anya Rosen ’11 after breaking through two defenders and put the ball to the far post. This was the first UAA goal for Brandeis this season and the team-leading sixth on the season for Theodore.
The Judges didn’t hold onto the lead for long, though. Less than two minutes later, Carnegie Mellon responded when Elsa Wu ’12 got a deflection in the box and sent the ball past Brandeis keeper Hillary Rosenzweig ’10. Like Theodore, this was also a team-leading sixth goal of the season for Wu.
Thanks to some great saves by both Rosen and Rosenzweig, neither team was able to pull ahead in the two overtimes. Rosen stopped Brandeis forward Melissa Gorenkoff ’10 twice in the first few minutes of extra time while Rosenzweig had a diving stop in the 94th minute to prevent a game-wining goal. Rosenzweig had six saves in the game, while Rosen had seven.
Brandeis continued their UAA weekend by traveling to Atlanta to face off against Emory. The Judges struck less than four minutes into the contest with Tiffany Pacheco ’11 sending one to the back of the net off an assist by Gorenkoff. This was the 24th career assist for the co-captain and with it she moved up the Brandeis career list past Kelley Vaughan ’88.
Despite outshooting their hosts 16-4 in the first half, Emory was able to get on the board to tie it up 1-1 in the 27th minute off a converted corner kick. The Judges kept up the aggressive play in the second half and regained the lead in the 58th minute. Theodore headed the ball into the net after Eagles keeper Kirsten Baecher mishandled a ball sent her way by Sofia Vallone ’11. The Judges wouldn’t fall behind again from that point on, tacking on an additional two goals in less than nine minutes.
The eventual game-winning goal came off the foot of Gorenkoff in the 65th minute off another misplayed ball by Baecher. In addition to her milestone assist earlier in the game, this put her in a tie for seventh place in school history with 70 career points as well as 10th place with 23 career goals. Theodore tacked on another insurance goal 3:30 minutes later by sending one home with an assist off a free kick from defender Stevie Phillis ’13.
The Eagles made one more goal off Rosenzweig with less than 10 minutes left to play, but were unable to come back and fell to the Judges for the first time since 2003. Emory, who had been 22-0-5 at home-coming into the game, suffered their first loss at home since Oct. 27, 2006.
Thanks to Theodore’s three goals on the week she was named UAA Athlete of the Week. Her eight goals this season and her 20 points make her the team leader in both categories. They also tie her for third and fourth in the UAA, respectively.
This was the Judges’ first win in UAA play this year, and also marked an important milestone for Head Coach Denise Dallamora: her 250th career win. Coach Dallamora is just the 16th coach in Division III women’s soccer history to reach this plateau.
Brandeis faced off against Bowdoin on Thursday afternoon in non-conference play, but the score was not available at press time. The last three games of the regular season are all UAA play and will be home games for the Judges. They will face Washington University next Friday, Oct. 30, at 7:30 p.m. followed by Chicago Sunday at 11 a.m. The final game of the season will be Saturday Nov. 7 at 1:30 p.m. against New York University.