Newton, Mass. (courtesy Lasell College sports information) - The Lasell College men's soccer team fell 1-0 to 20th ranked Brandeis University in a tightly contested match-up on Saturday afternoon at Taylor Field. Rookie Jake Picard (Suffield, Conn./Suffield) netted the only goal of the match, his second on the season, to help the Judges improve to 7-0 on the year. The loss was the first of the year for the home side, who are now 4-1 in the 2012 campaign. The victory was the twelfth straight for Brandeis, dating back to last season, and the 7-0 start is the best in the program history since 1985 when they began the year 15-0. Of Brandeis's seven victories this season, in five of them, they have handed their opponents their first loss of the season.
The match was a back-and-forth affair, with the Lasers holding a slight edge in shots at 7-5, and attempts on frame at 4-2, while the visiting Judges had a 7-3 advantage on corners.
Lasell created a trio of quality chances in the opening 12 minutes, including a quality strike by Cedric Dybaud (Weymouth, Mass.) that sailed wide, a low driven ball from Evan Gaccione (Westerly, R.I.) rattled to woodwork, and nice save by Brandeis keeper Blake Minchoff (Fiskdale, Mass./Tantasqua Regional) on a Mike Skelton (Conway, N.H.) effort.
By the midpoint of the first half Brandeis began to turn the momentum in their favor, gaining some control in the middle of the park, but couldn't find the right ball in the final third to threaten the Lasell defense. The evenly played opening half was played mostly in the middle hird of the field, and the two teams headed into the intermission deadlocked at 0-0.
The two sides dueled through the early part of the second half, with neiter side able to break through. In the 64th minute the Judges took advantage of a well played square ball by Sam Ocel (No. Attleboro, Mass./No. Attleboro) that put Picard into a one-on-one with the Lasers keeper Miguel Colmenares (Caracas, Venezuela). Picard and fired a low shot past Colmenares as he was trying to close the space.
Lasell fought to find the equalizer over the final 25 minutes, and nearly succeeded but a brilliant save by Minchoff stifled a Skelton opportunity, and helped the visitors preserve the lead.
No. 20 Brandeis will host 10th-ranked Babson College in a non-conference match on Wednesday September 19th at 7p.m., and Lasell will be back in action on September 19th for a GNAC fixture against visiting Norwich University at 4pm.