No. 7 Brandeis wins crosstown battle; No. 1 Wheaton falls

Senior Sam Ocel scored the overtime game winner for Brandeis Photo by Sportspix.biz/Jan Volk

In two double overtime matches on Wednesday, the top ranked Wheaton (IL) women fell to UW-Eau Claire, while 7th-ranked Brandeis edged 20th-ranked crosstown rival Babson.

In the Brandeis 2-1 win, a pair of seniors, Lee Russo and Sam Ocel combined for both goals and the Judges' lone assist.

The game-winning goal came 1:56 into the second overtime period. Deep in the Babson end of the field, Russo took a long throw-in into the box. Ocel, at the near post, headed it across the goal mouth, hoping to find a teammate, but instead found the back of the net for his fourth goal of the season and his third game-winner.

The team was swarmed on the field by the newly-christened Coven's Corner fans as they won their fourth-straight one-goal game. Ocel's goal was the 14th of his career and gave him 45 career points, the 28th player to reach that total at Brandeis.

Trailing 1-0 at halftime for the second time this season, the Judges had what 40 year head coach Mike Coven called the team's strongest half of soccer of the year. They outshot the Beavers 16-6 and finally grabbed the equalizer in the 66th minute.

Babson junior goalkeeper Jackson Klein, who had made a pair of saves on Russo and sophomore Tyler Savonen in the 58th minute, looked to stymie the Judges again eight minutes later. Klein first stoned Russo and then Ocel's initial rebound, but Russo buried his second attempt to knot the game, 1-1. It was Russo's team-leading eighth goal of the season and the 28th of his career, moving him into ninth place on Brandeis's career list. With three points tonight, he became the 13th 70-point scorer in school history.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair, with the Judges outshooting Babson, 6-4, but it was the Beavers who struck first in the 29th minute. Senior All-American Eric Anderson victimized the Judges for the seventh time in his career. After junior Mike Fisher made a nice service from the right flank, classmate Kevin Israel redirected it to Anderson, who headed it home for his team-leading seventh goal of the season.

Klein kept the Beavers in the contest with 10 saves, including eight in the second half. Brandeis senior Blake Minchoff had two stops for the Judges.

The Judges are off to their best start since 1986, when they won their first 15 in a row. They also snapped a three-match losing streak to their rivals. This was the 60th meeting between the two schools and the third straight that was decided in double overtime. Babson still leads the all-time series 28-22-10.

In the Eau Claire victory, it was a goal by senior Gina Williams that finished off the upset of No. 1 Wheaton College, and provided the Blugolds their first ever win against the Thunder.

Wheaton jumped out to an early 1-0 lead thanks to a goal off a corner kick by senior Laura Karsten with an assist by junior Leah DeMoss, just 8:48 into the contest. Wheaton held its 1-0 advantage for much oif the match. But with less than four minutes remaining, the Blugolds tied things up off a strong effort by Williams. Her key goal had assists from freshman Megan Hanson and junior Allie Stone.

After a scoreless first overtime period, Williams nailed the winner, her second of the afternoon and just 2:33 into the second overtime, to give the hosts the victory. Junior Abby Beinlich had the assist on the goal.

UW-Eau Claire out-shot Wheaton 23-13 in the match, while Wheaton held an 11-6 edge in corner kicks. Wheaton goalkeeper senior Hilary Barreto made eight saves and allowed two goals. UW-Eau Claire junior Nina Behrenbrinker made three saves and allowed one goal.

Wheaton leads the all-time series with Eau-Claire 1-10-2.

Rusty Lindsey contributed to this story.