The Justice

Patrick Metelus '09, left, maneuvers in the corner during the Brandeis Football (Soccer) Club's first intercollegiate game since 2004. Photo courtesy of Brandeis Football Club

Preparing for their first intercollegiate game in nearly four years Saturday, members of Brandeis' coed Football (Soccer) Club trickled on the field, each wearing a different white shirt.

Forty-five minutes later, the all-male Worcester Polytechnic Institute club team arrived sporting matching uniforms and personalized soccer gear.

By the end of the game, however, it was clear that the Judges, despite only practicing once together, were the more cohesive team.

Using deft passing and strong midfield play, Brandeis jumped ahead early and blew out WPI 9-1 Saturday to win its first and possibly only game of the fall.

"We've been passing the ball well, and moving off the ball well," former club president Brian Goodman '08 said. "[We did] all the stuff that coaches talk about."

Brandeis dominated play in the first half, scoring six goals before WPI even attempted a shot. Midfielder Patrick Metelus '09 scored the first goal just three minutes into the game, and the Judges tacked on two more before the 20-minute mark to take a 3-0 lead.

The squad also had a similar flurry of goals late in the first half.

On a possession off a WPI turnover in the 37th minute, substitute midfielder Zach Pyle '09 found forward Tapiwa Mushove '09 wide open in the middle of the goalie box, and Mushove put home his own rebound after his first shot was saved.

Two minutes later, Mushove sped past the WPI defense on the left side of the field, and just as it looked like he would go out of bounds, snuck a shot underneath the goalie to make it 5-0.

"Man for man, I just think we were playing at a faster pace than they were," Goodman said.

The club hadn't played together in a game setting prior to Saturday, but that didn't seem to be the case based on the way they meticulously created chances for themselves with their passing.

Only two of the Judges' nine goals were unassisted, and most were the result of passes made through the WPI defense.

"They had crisp, short passes on the outside and back to center, and our defense was just running in circles around them," WPI captain Max Welker said.

Continued...

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