WALTHAM, Mass. - Wheaton College junior forward Josh Solomon (Acton, Mass/Acton-Boxboro Regional) had a pair of first half assists tonight to lead the visiting Lyons, ranked No. 4 in New England according to the NSCAA, to a 3-0 victory over the host Brandeis University Judges under the lights of Gordon Field. Wheaton improves to 9-1-1 with the win, while the Judges fall to 1-4-1.
In a physical game between two rivals, Wheaton tallied twice in a five-minute span in the first half. The Lyons got all the scoring they would need in the 27th minute when Solomon served a free kick from just outside the box. Senior Adam Sussman (Swampscott, Mass./Swampscott) was on the spot to one-time it home for his second goal of the season.
Solomon contributed to sophomore midfielder Pablo Mena's (San Salvador, El Salvador/American School of El Salvador) second goal of the campaign as well, in the 31st minute. Solomon fed the ball to Mena on the sideline. Mena then dribbled to the middle of the field and rocketed home a shot from 20 yards out, beating Brandeis junior netminder Matt Lynch (Weymouth, Mass./Weymouth) to Lynch's left.
After getting outshot, 6-3, in the first half, Brandeis upped the pressure in the second, doubling their output. The Judges' best opportunities came around the 64th minute. On a free kick deep in the offensive zone, junior back Kyle Gross's (Medway, Mass./Medway) initial shot was stopped on a nice diving save by Wheaton junior Cole Davidson (Needham, Mass./Salisbury School), who recovered in time to corral the rebound by Brandeis rookie Joe Eisenbeis (Hingham, Mass./Hingham).
Brandeis got one last opportunity in the in the 86th minute on a corner kick, but Davidson was able to stop Brandeis sophomore back David McCoy (Weymouth, Mass./Catholic Memorial), who came in on the play. Lynch stoned Wheaton's leading scorer, junior Yuri Moreira (Marlboro, Mass./Northfield Mount Hermon) in the 87th minute, but the Lyons tacked on a goal with seven seconds left in regulation. Moreira was able to get a head on a long throw-in towards the goal by junior forward Jake Wagner (Sudbury, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury).
Lynch made a season-high six saves in the losing effort for the Judges. Davidson also made a season-high six stops for the visitors, five in the second half, to record his fourth shutout of the campaign.
Brandeis is next in action on Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m. against Newbury College, while Wheaton faces Wesleyan University at home on Tuesday at 4 p.m.
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