ST. LOUIS, Mo. – A pair of second-half goals made the difference today as the Brandeis University men's soccer team suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of ninth-ranked Washington University in a University Athletic Association contest today. With the loss, the Judges fall to 4-7-2 overall, 1-2-1 in the UAA, while the Bears improve to 8-2-1, 2-1-1 UAA.
The first half was a defensive battle, with Washington outshooting Brandeis, 8-5, with both teams putting two shots on net. The Judges had perhaps the best opportunity of the half in the 39th minute, when first-year forward Gabriel Haithcock (Macon, Ga./IMG Academy) broke in on WashU goalkeeper Matt Martin on a nice through ball. Martin came off his line and was able to keep Haithcock from getting a quality shot, but the rebound came to fellow rookie Eli Mones (Portland, Ore./Grant). Mones' follow looked to have a chance to go in, but a Bear defender got back and cleared the ball off the line to preserve the scoreless draw.
WashU broke the deadlock on the first shot of the second half. Nolan Wolf crossed the ball from the left side, and Sergio Rivas was there to collect the ball and fire it into the right netting. Brandeis got off three of the next four shots, forcing Martin to make two saves in the process, denying first-year John Loo (Easton, Conn./Joel Barlow) in the 57th minute and junior Forest Shimazu (Natick, Mass./Needham) in the 68th minute. Martin had two more saves in the stanza before the Bears got an insurance goal in the 86th minute, when Rivas got in behind the defense on the counterattack for his second goal of the game. Owen Culver's through ball earned him the assist.
For the game, Brandeis junior Aiden Guthro (Newburyport, Mass./Newburyport) made two saves in the losing effort. Martin had five stops, four in the second half, to earn the win. Final shot tally was even at 11-all, while WashU had the 3-2 edge in corner kicks.
Brandeis returns to action in two weeks when they host two UAA foes: Rochester on Friday, October 29th, at 7:30 p.m., and Emory University on Sunday, October 31st, at 1:30 p.m.