NEWTON, Mass. (9/1/17) – After a hard-fought 90 minutes from both sides, the No. 6 Judges of Brandeis University downed the Lasell women's soccer team, 5-3, on Sunday afternoon at Taylor Field.
The season opener puts the Lasers at 0-1, while the Judges even out at 1-1, after dropping a 3-2 contest at MIT on Friday afternoon.
Sophomore Carly Zdanek (Newton, N.J.) scored two goals in the effort, while classmate Caitlin Rotonnelli (Meredith, N.H.) accounted for the home team's remaining marker.
A balanced offense led the Judges to victory, as the visitors saw goals from Hannah Maatallah (Wilton, Conn.), Samantha Schwartz (Highland Park, Ill.), Haliana Burhans (Charlotte, Vt.), and Mackenzie Smith (Northborough, Mass.).
The Lasers struck just three minutes in for the first goal against the Judges since the 2015 season. Senior Casey Meissner (Sandwich, Mass.) laid down a textbook through-ball between the Judges' defense, that Rotonnelli put away in the bottom left corner. Maatallah evened the scoring at one-all, on an upper 90 strike with 29 minutes left to play in the first half.
As the rain poured down on Taylor Field, Zdanek scored her first goal on a follow-through to net, giving the Lasers the 2-1 advantage. The Judges again answered with the equalizer, a breakaway to the lower left corner from Schwartz, as both teams headed into halftime with two goals apiece.
Brandeis put away their first of three second half goals at 51:02 on a defensive miscue by the Lasell defense. The scoreboard read 4-2 just six minutes later as they Judges converted on a set play directed by Sasha Sunday's (Bethlehem, Pa.) corner kick. Zdanek pulled the home team within one on her second goal of the game, another follow-through from a rebound for the 4-3 score, but Burhans put the game out of reach with 18 left to go for a 5-3 final.
Brandeis held an 18-11 advantage in shots, as Lasell goalkeeper Sarah LaClair (Belchertown, Mass.) stopped eight of 13 shots faced. Sierra Dana (Lombard, Ill.) made four stops in the winning effort, and shifts to 1-1 on the year.
The Lasers are back in action on Wednesday, September 6 as they hit the road to Keene, N.H. for a non-conference affair with the Owls at 6:00 p.m. Brandeis hosts Bridgewater State on Tuesday, September 5th for their home opener under the lights at 7:00 p.m.
