PITTSBURGH, Pa. — In a battle of nationally-ranked University Athletic Association squads, the 12th-ranked Brandeis men suffered a heartbreaking overtime loss at #23 Carnegie Mellon, 2-1. With the loss, the Judges fall to 11-3, 1-2 in the UAA, matching their loss total from a year ago. The Tartans improve to 9-2-1 overall, 2-1 in the conference.
After an evenly-played first half in which both teams had three shots, the Judges broke through first in the second. In the 71st-minute, Brandeis earned its only two corner kicks of the game. After the first produced a shot by Brandeis senior back Ben Applefield (Avon, Conn/Avon) that was deflected over the net by CMU senior Christopher Madden, the second resulted in the first goal of the contest. Senior forward Kyle Feather (Pinebrook, N.J./Montville Township) put the ball in the mix, and sophomore back Conor Lanahan (Avon, Conn./Avon) came forward and headed it home. It was Lanahan's second goal of the season.
CMU equalized seven minutes later. Brandeis junior Joe Graffy (Concord, N.H./Concord) came off his line, but the Tartans' Jerome Reano arrived at the ball at the same time. Reano was able to poke it under Graffy for his second of the campaign. CMU had two more chances in regulation, but two went wide and Graffy denied Colin Shaffer in the 81st minute.
In overtime, Brandeis sophomore Josh Hacunda (Hopkinton, Mass./Hopkinton) had the first attempt, shooting high at 93:26. On the counter-attack, the hosts found their game-winner. Carnegie Mellon's senior forward Chris Wysocki took a shot from the left side that was stopped by a diving Graffy, but the ball squirted loose. It deflected off a Brandeis defender and into the net, giving the Tartans their first overtime win in three games this season, while dropping the Judges to 1-1 in OT contests.
For the game, both Graffy and Madden each made two saves. Both sides each had a ball cleared off the line by a defender as well.
Brandeis will return to UAA action on Sunday morning at 11 a.m. at Emory University, while Carnegie Mellon hosts NYU at the same time.