WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University men's soccer team
had three different goal scorers tonight as the Judges defeated
visiting Springfield College, 3-0, in a non-conference match-up on
Gordon Field.
Brandeis (7-5-3) got all the scoring it would need when junior
tri-captain Brett Fitzgerald (Hubbardston, Mass.) converted a
penalty kick in the 24th minute. On a free kick deep in the zone, a
Springfield defender held Judge rookie midfielder and Springfield
native Billy Murphy, drawing the PK. Fitzgerald sent the ball to
his left, converting for the second time this season and his third
goal overall.
The Judges scored two goals in the second half. Senior forward
Yuval Ezer (Netanya, Israel) took a through ball from sophomore
forward Ben Premo (Florence, Mass.) to tally his third goal of the
season in the 59th minute. In the 71st minute, Murphy led a
three-on-two break, slotting pass to senior midfielder Mike Snyder
(Ashby, Mass.), who took one dribble and found the back of the net
for the second game in a row and fourth time this season.
Springfield (4-10-2) owned a 17-13 advantage in shots and 9-4 lead
in corner kicks, but the Pride only had five shots on goal.
Brandeis rookie Taylor Bracken (No. Andover, Mass.) registered his
fifth shutout of the season and the team's sixth overall. Ryan
Driscoll (Wilmington, Del.) had three saves and suffered the loss
for SC.
With the win Brandeis surpassed its victory total from a year ago
and won two in a row for the first time this season. Not only had
the Judges not won back-to-back games, but this marked the first
time in 2006 that they produced the same result of any kind twice
in a row.
Brandeis plays its regular-season home finale on Sunday at 3:00
p.m. against Colby-Sawyer College in non-conference action, while
Springfield wraps up its NEWMAC regular season at MIT on Saturday
at 11:30 a.m.