WALTHAM, Mass. - Senior forward Ben Premo (Florence, Mass.) tallied a goal and an assist in the final five minutes of the contest tonight to lead the Brandeis University men's soccer team past visiting Babson College, 3-1, on Gordon Field.
After a scoreless first half, Babson opened the scoring at the 47:00 mark. Senior Tim Winn (Sutton, Mass.), the Beavers' all-time leading scorer, tallied his fifth of the season when he shook through three Brandeis defenders. Winn moved into the box and unleashed a laser from about 12 yards out to break the ice.
Brandeis answered in the 56th minute on a penalty kick. Junior midfielder Corey Bradley (Holyoke, Mass.) was hauled down in the box. Classmate Patrick Metelus (Pernier, Haiti) briefly took the team lead in goals when he converted the PK for his fourth of the season.
The Judges got the game-winning goal in the 87th minute. Junior midfielder Alex Zenerovitz (Acton, Mass.) sent a beautiful long ball through the defense that Premo was able to corral. Premo dribbled to the goal line and fired a shot high over Crowley from a tough angle for his fourth goal of the season, tying him for the team lead.
Just over two minutes later, in the 89th minute, Premo added an assist on an insurance goal. With the Beaver defense pushed up, he sent a through ball to rookie Alexander Farr (Longmeadow, Mass.). Farr went one-on-one with Crowley and calmly put it home for his second goal of the campaign.
Brandeis (3-1) and Babson (3-2) were tied late in the game thanks to some outstanding goalkeeping from a pair of rookies. Sean O'Hare (Southampton, Mass.) of the Judges and Beaver Peter Crowley (Lexington, Mass.) had three and four saves, respectively, including some point-blank stops that maintained the 1-1 score. Crowley prevented Metelus from scoring his second goal of the game in the 63rd minute. O'Hare, making his first collegiate start twice denied Babson's Dan Fogarty (Brookline, N.H.), including once in the 78th minute.
Brandeis returns to action on Monday evening when they wrap up their five-game homestand against Colby-Sawyer College at 7 p.m., while Babson plays host to UMass Boston Saturday at 1 p.m.