The Case Western Reserve University women's soccer team battled Brandeis University to a hard-fought 1-1 draw on Sunday afternoon at DiSanto Field in Cleveland.
With the team, the Spartans moved to 8-3-5 on the season and 1-3-2 in University Athletic Association. The Judges tied their first contest of the campaign, moving to 9-6-1 overall and 0-5-1 in the UAA.
CWRU scored early in the contest, breaking the deadlock on a goal by senior Sydney Schenk. Schenk earned a free ball in the middle of the field, lobbed it to herself further down the pitch, and sent a strike from about 20 yards out into the back of the net. The goal was her fifth of the season.
The Judges evened the score in the 27th minute on a goal by Dominique Paglia, her first of the season.
The Spartans outshot the Judges 5-1 for the remainder of the first half, but they were unable to take the lead with the score tied at one at the break.
The game became more physical in the second half with all six cards issued after halftime and a combined 13 fouls between the two teams. Case Western Reserve's attempts on goal were stopped by both the woodwork and the Brandeis goalkeeper with a few shots necessitating diving saves to keep the score even. The hosts' final chances came in the final minutes when the team was playing up one player after a red card. Two shots sailed just above the crossbar, and one was saved in the final 30 seconds.
In goal, graduate student goalkeeper Maggie Storti saved three shots. Overall, CWRU held a 20-5 advantage in attempts at scoring, including seven on target. Junior Ceci Dapino had a team-high six shots with two on goal. Both Schenk and junior Molly Shamah added three shots and two shots on goal.
CWRU will end the regular season with a home matchup against seventh-ranked Carnegie Mellon on Saturday, November 9 at 1 p.m.
Spartan Notes
- The Spartans moved to 11-19-5 all-time against Brandeis all-time, including a 3-0-1 stretch since 2021
- CWRU ranked 33rd in the latest NPI standings released by the NCAA on October 31. The rankings will be used to select the 21 at-large teams for the national championship tournament
- Schenk scored her ninth career goal in the contest, bringing her career point total to 30. Her five goals this season are one behind the team lead of six shared by Shamah and junior Alexis Sassower
- CWRU tied its fifth game this season, its most draws in a single season in the 21st century
