The Brandeis women’s soccer team won two games this week, coming back from their loss to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. On Sept. 4, in their home opener, Brandeis shutout Bridgewater State University by a score of 3–0. This brought the Judges’ season record to 1–1. They have yet to play any games against their University Athletic Association rivals.

The start of the game was delayed by 45 minutes due to lightning, but that didn’t rattle the confidence of the Judges. They came out strong, led by Juliette Carreiro ’22, who scored in both the first and second periods. Carreiro’s first goal came at 12:07 after she stole the ball and drove it down the field for the score. Morgan Clark ’23 also scored in the first period. At 33:30, she scored off of a pass from Jessica Herman ’23. This was a combined first collegiate point for both players. Then, in the second period at 49:27, Carreiro scored again after she received a served ball from the right sideline from Daria Bakhtiari ’21. This was Carreiro’s first multiple-goal game. 

The Judges outshot BSU 35–7 with 17 shots on goal to BSU’s four. Brandeis goalie Victoria Richardson ’20 saw 80-plus minutes of action and made three saves, while Rebecca Gold ’22 played 9-plus minutes, making a diving stop to save a goal. The Judges now have an all-time record against BSU of 10–2–1 and have won their last five home openers.

On Sept. 7, Brandeis earned their second shutout of the season against Johnson and Wales University by a score of 7–0. This game was played away in Providence, RI and brought the Judges to an overall season record of 2–1. From the very start of this game it was obvious that the Judges were on a roll. The offense never let up for the entire 90 minutes of play, and the defense handled everything that came their way. Scoring began at 5:03 when Makuna Hunt ’22 scored with an assist from Carreiro. Then, at 24:20 Carreiro had an unassisted goal followed by another goal at 33:33 assisted by Katie Romanovich ’21. Lauren Mastandrea ’22 finished out the first period with an assisted goal from Herman at 43:17. During the second period, Emma Spector ’20 and Hunt both scored unassisted goals at 53:15 and 83:46 respectively. Finally, at the very end of the game, Willa Molho ’21, assisted by Hunt, scored at 86:58 to finish out the Judges scoring of seven goals. 

Richardson was goalie for the first period and made three saves while Gold replaced her in the second period, recording two saves. The Judges outshot JWU 15–12 and had nine shots on goal to JWU’s five.

In an interview with the Justice, senior Victoria Richardson explained, “I'm really excited to be back playing with my teammates again. We have such a close-knit team and love spending time together on and off the field. I think our unity is one of the reasons we excel.” Richardson added, “As always, our team looks to excel in the regular season and postseason. One of our goals is to win the UAA. We have a lot of smaller specific goals this season to help us achieve our bigger goals and make sure we are on the right track.”

The Judges return to action on Tuesday, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m., where they will face the Clark University Cougars in Worcester, MA. Then, on Saturday, Sept. 14, they will be back at home on Gordon Field to face the Babson College Beavers at 1 p.m.