WALTHAM, Mass. – In their first home contest of the season, nine different Brandeis University men's soccer players scored points as the Judges handed visiting WPI their first loss, 5-0, in a nonconference matchup on Gordon Field tonight. The Judges improve to 3-1 on the season, while the Engineers drop to 4-1.
The first half was evenly played, with WPI owning a 6-5 edge in shots and 2-1 corner kick advantage. Brandeis tallied the game's only goal in the first 45 minutes, however. In the 15th minute, Judge senior forward Steve Keuchkarian (Watertown, Mass./Watertown) dribbled to the end line and sent a nice cross through the box. Sophomore Kyle Feather (Pinebrook, N.J./Montville Township) was charging in and flicked it past Engineer sophomore Jeff Wong (Millington, N.J./Watchung Hill). Feather's team-leading third goal of the season proved to be all the scoring the hosts would need.
Brandeis was able to blow the game open with four second-half goals. Their first two tallies came less than 90 seconds apart. Sophomore back Ben Applefield (Avon, Conn./Avon) dribbled to beat three defenders and blast a low shot into the right-side netting for his first of the season and third of his career at 51:16. At 52:45, junior forward Lee Russo (Westford, Mass./Westford Acad.), who had drawn a foul moments before, put a beautiful free kick onto the head of senior midfielder Theo Terris (Concord, Mass./Concord-Carlisle) for his second goal of the campaign.
The Brandeis offense would control play for the remainder of the contest. In the 79th minute, after WPI brought a majority of its team into the offensive zone to try to get back in the game, the Judges struck again. Junior back Matt Peabody (Brunswick, Maine/Brunswick) cleared a long ball from his own box high in the air. Rookie midfielder Tyler Savonen (Orleans, Mass./Nauset Regional) was at the midfield stripe, where he collected the ball, beat a defender and Wong for his second collegiate goal. The Judges added a late tally with 8.3 seconds left in the game when sophomore Tudor Livadaru (Bronx, N.Y./Riverdale-Kingsbridge Acad.) assisted sophomore forward Nick George (Bangor, Maine/Bangor).
For the game, Wong and Brandeis junior Blake Minchoff (Fiskdale, Mass./Tantasqua Regional) each made five saves. For Minchoff, the shutout was his third of the season as Brandeis won by a 5-0 score for the third time this season.
The Judges return to action Monday evening against another set of Engineers, this time from MIT, while WPI takes on Worcester rival Clark on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the NEWMAC opener for both teams.
- 30 -