WALTHAM, Mass. -- The Brandeis University women's soccer team held off visiting Bridgewater State University, 2-1. on Wednesday night at Gordon Field tonight.
The Judges, who received votes in the most recent United Soccer Coaches Division III Poll, improve to 7-4-2 on the season with the win, while the Bears fall to 5-6-1.
The two teams played to a scoreless tie over the first 45 minutes with Brandeis outshooting the Bears, 8-2, including 4-0 in shots on goal. BSU senior goalkeeper Tory Viola-Laughery (Brockton, Mass.) turned aside all four shots she faced in the first half. The Bears had the best scoring chance of the stanza when senior forward Madelyn Morin (East Longmeadow, Mass.) hit the crossbar in the 18th minute off of a corner kick.
The Judges finally broke the ice early in the second half, when senior Juliette Carreiro (Upton, Mass.) was pulled down from behind in the penalty area. Classmate Daria Bakhtiari (Wilmington, Mass.) took the ensuing penalty kick and buried it for her team-leading sixth goal of the season in the 55th minute.
Brandeis sophomore Yasla Ngoma (North Plainfield, N.J.) was denied an insurance goal by Viola-Laughery three different times in a span of eight minutes, while junior Caroline Swan (Pittsburgh, Pa.) rang the post in the 69th minute.
Fifty seconds after Swan hit the iron, BSU potted the equalizer. After a Brandeis giveaway in the midfield, junior forward Michelle Belcher (Norton, Mass.) turned and dribbled to the top of the box. Her strike from 20 yards out went over the outstretched hands of Brandeis rookie netminder Hannah Bassan (Aventura, Fla.) and under the crossbar in the 71st minute. The goal was Belcher's seventh of the season as she tied sophomore forward Audra McDuffie (Millbury, Mass.) for the team lead.
Brandeis responded just 43 seconds later in the 72nd minute. Carreiro sent a cross from the left flank that deflected off a BSU defender and landed at the feet of junior Morgan Clark (West Orange, N.J.). Clark volleyed it home inside the right post for her first goal of the season. The assist was Carreiro's team-leading seventh of the season.
The Judges recorded the final six shots of the game to finish with a 24-5 shot advantage. Bassan finished with one save to earn the win, while Viola-Laughery had nine stops in the setback.
The Bears travel to Massachusetts Maritime Academy on Friday night for a seven o'clock Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conferenve (MASCAC) game with the Buccaneers. The Judges return to action on Saturday afternoon when they head to Springfield College to take on the Pride at one.