WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University men's soccer team scored a pair of second-half goals today, with five different players earning points, as the Judges earned a University Athletic Association (UAA) victory over Case Western Reserve University, 2-0, on Gordon Field. With the win, the ninth-ranked Judges improve to 11-0-1, 1-0-1 in the UAA, while the Spartans fall to 3-8-1, 0-2-0 in the conference. The Judges have not lost in their past 17 games, going 16-0-1 in the span dating back to last season.
The contest featured a slow first half in which Brandeis outshot Case, 8-4. There were only three shots on goal, two by the Judges. The Spartans got off the first two shots of the second half, including their best attempt of the day by senior Rene Silva (Hudson, Ohio/Western Reserve Acad.) which was saved by Brandeis senior Blake Minchoff (Fiskdale, Mass./Tantasqua Regional) in the 49th minute.
On the counter-attack from that save, the Judges finally broke open the scoring. Sophomore Foti Andreo (Lynn, Mass./Phillips Exeter Acad.) sent a beautiful through ball to classmate Tyler Savonen (Orleans, Mass./Nauset Regional). Savonen tracked it down at the end line and sent a perfect cross to senior midfielder Sam Ocel (No. Attleboro, Mass./No. Attleboro). Ocel sent it home at 49:36 for his fifth goal of the season and team-leading fourth game-winner.
Case nearly equalized in the 60th minute when sophomore Patrick O'Day (Plano, Texas/Plano Senior) took advantage of Minchoff being out of position, but Brandeis senior defender Joe Eisenbies (Hingham, Mass./Hingham) cleared the ball off the line to preserve the shutout.
Brandeis added an insurance goal in the 72nd minute. Junior midfielder Tudor Livadaru (Bronx, N.Y./Riverdale-Kingsbridge Acad.) did some nifty footwork to beat a defender along the goal line. He sent the ball through the goal mouth, and classmate Steve Salazar (Revere, Mass./Malden Catholic) one-touched it into the net for his first collegiate goal. The Brandeis defense took over from there, allowing Case just one additional shot the rest of the way.
For the game, Brandeis outshot Case, 14-12, though the Spartans had eight shots to six for the Judges in the second half. Minchoff finished with two saves and his fifth shutout of the season, while Case senior Ryan Koepka (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) had four stops in the losing effort.
Brandeis is off for a week before traveling to the Midwest for another UAA tilt at the University of Chicago on Friday evening at 6:30 p.m., while Case takes on Emory in a UAA contest at 5 p.m. the same evening.