WENHAM, Mass. (information taken from a Gordon College press release) -- The Brandeis University women's soccer team, ranked eighth in Division III, saw their four-match winning streak halted today as the Judges fell to Gordon College, 3-2, on a goal in the 81st minute by junior midfielder Hannah Midwinter. Brandeis falls to 4-1 after allowing more goals than they had all season, while the Fighting Scots improve to 6-1 on the campaign.
After a feverish start, the Scots got the scoring started on the day when senior midfielder Kendra Woudenberg (Whitinsville, Mass.) beat her defender to the left endline and slotted a ball through the area to Midwinter for the 1-0 lead just 13 minutes in. Not to be outdone, Brandeis senior back Kelly Peterson (Houston, Texas/Clear Lake) wasted little time netting the equalizer, sending home a loose ball off a corner just under three minutes later to make it 1-1.
Gordon then booked a go-ahead goal in the 29th minute as sophomore midfielder Jamie Breton (Concord, N.H.) volleyed a Woudenberg cross across the goal mouth to sophomore forward Lauren Hayes (Wantage, N.J.) at the far post, who tucked the ball into the back of the net for the 2-1 advantage. That lead once again was short lived, however, as the Judges' second-leading scorer, junior forward Dara Spital (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep) ripped a shot from the far left corner of the box past sophomore keeper McKenzie Dion (North Grafton, Mass.) to knot the game at 2-2 with 10 minutes to go in the first.
Despite quality opportunities by both teams throughout the remainder of the first and into the second, that score held until the 81st minute when senior back Julia Miller (New York, N.Y.)cleared a ball out of the backfield to Midwinter, who beat one defender, took aim, and buried the gamewinner to the right post past the outstretched hands of Brandeis junior netminder Michelle Savuto (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood).
Although Brandeis outshot Gordon, 23-6, Dion made 11 saves to earn her third win. Savuto did not have any saves in the loss.
Brandeis is off until next Tuesday when they return home to play Wellesley College at 7 p.m.