Jackets Score First UAA Win over Brandeis
PRINCE ATHLETIC COMPLEX – University of Rochester men’s soccer bounced back from a Friday defeat to pick up their first University Athletic Association conference win, 1-0, against the Brandeis University Judges on Sunday afternoon at Edwin Fauver Stadium.
Both the ‘Jackets and Judges got things going, offensively, early on in the first, with a ninth-minute corner for UR, followed by Roee Maor’s shot on goal, which Santino Lupica-Tondo saved.
Rochester earned another corner in the 14th minute, and after the ball caromed off a few bodies in the box, it made its way to Elijose Araujo. The sophomore’s shot, however, was blocked, bouncing off a Brandeis defender, and the Judges took things the other way.
Will Fallona took another shot on goal for UR at the 26:20 mark, and after the Judges again couldn’t clear, Ashton Prescott had an opportunity just outside the box, but his shot sailed just a bit wide.
On the other end, Nico Beninda forced another Lupica-Tondo save in the 30th minute before Andrew Moglianesi and Alessio Cristanetti-Walker nearly broke through with four shots in quick succession.
Moglianesi’s 35th-minute shot had to be headed away by a Brandeis defender for a team save, while
Cristanetti-Walker headed the rebound just wide for a goal kick.
A little over two minutes later, Cristanetti-Walker headed Tyler Moran’s cross on goal, forcing Quintin Wrabley to come up with the save, and then Cristanetti-Walker’s 38th-minute shot was blocked, setting up a UR corner.
On the corner, Avi Lamba’s shot was just wide, but Wrabley got his hand on it to give Rochester yet another corner, one of five in the first half and 11 overall for the ‘Jackets.
Neither team would threaten much the rest of the half though, with just one shot from Brandeis’ Rain Osselmann-Chai that went wide, and the two sides headed into the locker room with the score still 0-0.
Maddox Yu got off a pair of shots on goal to start the second half, both of which Lupica-Tondo saved, while Prescott got another chance from close range in the 50th minute, but Wrabley again kept UR out of the back of the net.
The Yellowjackets though, would finally break through in the 58th minute, with their counterattack taking the ball the other way following a Brandeis corner.
Araujo dribbled the ball down the near sideline and looked to cross it into Fallona. Attempting to slide, Fallona was taken out by a defender, but the ball bounded to Prescott, whose right-footed shot found the bottom left corner of the net to give UR a 1-0 lead.
And after ensuing shots by Brandeis were blocked and went wide, Rochester looked for more. Moglianesi nearly curled one in off a corner kick in the 66th minute, while Araujo forced back-to-back saves from Wrabley with a pair of shots on goal in the 68th and 69th minutes.
For Brandeis, Maroto Tobias had a look on goal in the 73rd minute, but Lupica-Tondo kept the bouncing ball from leveling the score at one-all.
Lupica-Tondo would make one more save to finish off the win, as some passing from the Judges found Henning Dierks with one-man, Kol Bassuk, to beat in the box. But Lupica-Tondo corralled the rolling shot, falling on the ball to again keep Brandeis from equalizing.
Down the final eight minutes, UR continued to look for another score, with Fallona nearly heading one in off a free kick from Moglianesi in the 83rd minute, while Moglianesi added another shot on goal of his own in the 84th minute, setting up at ‘Jacket corner at the 83:18 mark.
But one goal would be all UR needed, as they finished off the 1-0 victory without a shot from Brandeis over the final eight minutes to earn their first UAA victory.
Rochester moves to 7-2-5 (1-2-2 UAA) with the win, while the Judges fall to 3-7-5 (1-2-2 UAA) with the loss.
Four different Yellowjackets tallied three shots, including Prescott who scored the game-winner in the 58th minute, as well as Araujo, Cristanetti-Walker and Moglianesi. The ‘Jackets held a 17-14 advantage overall in shots, and 10-6 on goal over the Judges.
In goal, Lupica-Tondo made six saves, while Wrabley made eight for Brandeis.
With just two more games left in the regular season, the Yellowjackets next travel to St. Louis, MO for their final road match of conference play, facing Washington University in St. Louis on Sunday, Oct. 29 at 1:30 p.m. CST.