The men’s and women’s soccer teams both dropped the ball during their games against the Emory University Eagles and the University of Rochester Yellowjackets. Both teams faced the Eagles on Friday and the Yellowjackets on Sunday. The men’s record for the season is now 9–5–4 overall and 2–3–1 in the University Athletic Association. The women are 10–7 overall and 1–5 in the UAA. 

Men’s Squad

The men’s team suffered two losses this week, with their first being a matchup against the Eagles. The first half did not result in points for either team, but  the number of attempts at a goal was much higher for Emory than for Brandeis; the Judges attempted six shots while the Eagles attempted 11.  Three shots on goal against the Judges were saved by Greg Irwin ’20. 

It was in the second half of the game against Emory when the action took place. First, two yellow cards were given to Brandeis players within the first five minutes of play for various fouls. One was to Forrest Shimazu ’23 and the other to Dylan Hennessy ’20. In the 58th minute of play, the first point of the game was scored when the Eagles’ Alejandro Gomez shot his second goal of the season. Within four minutes, the Judges responded with Hennessy scoring his own second goal of the season. With the game tied at one goal each, either team could have taken the win, but the Eagles did not waste time putting themselves ahead. The Eagles’ Corey Levine scored just 18 seconds after Hennessy, giving the Eagles the lead they needed to capture the game.

The men lost to the Yellowjackets by one point, just as they had against the Eagles. The scoring action began sooner than it had in their previous game, though, as the Judges’ Alex Walter ’20 scored the game’s first point with an  assist from Hennessy. At the end of the first half, this was the game’s only point, which put the Judges in a good spot heading into the second half. However, Rochester responded with two points just 40 seconds apart from one another, putting the Yellowjackets ahead 2–1. The Judges were unable to recover throughout the rest of the game and despite a strong first half, lost their second consecutive game. 

Women’s Squad

The Judges’ loss to Emory was a big blow to the team as Emory scored four points over the Judges’ zero. Just a minute into the game, Juliet Carreiro ’22 tried to put the Judges on the scoreboard, but, the Eagles’ Haley Pratt blocked the point. The Eagles responded very quickly, and at 3:17 into the game, as Aubrey Blanchard was assisted by Jordan Fitzgerald in scoring Emory’s first point. The rest of the first half was quiet from a scoring perspective as both teams failed in their attempted goals. It was not until the second half that the Eagles formed a lead that the Judges could not recover from.

In the 55th minute of play, Emory’s Shivani Beall scored her fifth goal of the season to put the Eagles ahead 2–0. Less than ten minutes later, Brandeis shot into their own goal, giving Emory their third point, and 13 minutes later, Emory’s LJ Kolodge was assisted by Kylie Hall to close out the fourth goal of the game. This game was devastating for the Judges as they could not manage to score a single point while the Eagles scored. 

After their defeat by Emory, the Judges had to brush themselves off if they wanted to gain the momentum needed to beat Rochester. Unfortunately, their game against the Yellowjackets would result in another loss, this time in overtime. 

The teams were actually well-matched for each other. At the end of the game, the teams were tied at two points each. The first point of the game was scored by the Judges’ Daria Bakhtiari ‘21 in the 21st minute. 24:04 into the game, Rochester’s Madison Drenowatz scored Rochester’s first goal assisted by Giuliana Vasile and Carolyn Richards. The Judges responded with a point at 30:51 by Emma Spector ’20, who was assisted by Ruby Siegal ’22. The final point of the half was by the Yellowjackets’ Drenowatz and assisted by Emily Tompkins.

With that, the teams entered the second half tied at two points each. The game could go in either direction. However, no one was able to score during the second half of play, though the Yellowjackets led the Judges in attempted shots 3–2. The final game point came in overtime when Richards scored the winning point for Rochester. 

Both squads will face the New York University Violets on Saturday. They both need to win against NYU to escape the slump they are in and prevent a three-game losing streak.