The No. 5 men’s soccer team found itself in an unfamiliar position on Sunday afternoon, just 10 minutes into its Elite Eight game with the State University of New York at Oneonta. After an eighth-minute goal by the hosts, the Judges were forced to play from behind, the earliest all season the Brandeis defense had given up a goal. 

Brandeis was never able to find the back of the net against the third-ranked Red Dragons, ending the squad’s run in the NCAA Division III Tournament and closing its season at 19-3-1. 

“We played a great team,” said coach Michael Coven. “That’s the best tea m we played in a number of years. To give us credit, we played a long, hard game on a bad field the day before. I think that we were beat up, physically our legs were tired … but [that’s] not to take anything away from Oneonta.” 

The Red Dragons turned an eighth-minute miscue into the only goal they would need on Sunday afternoon. After a failed clearance by the Judges’ defense, SUNY Oneonta junior midfielder Dylan Williams fed the ball into SUNY Oneonta junior forward Jake Sutherland 20 yards in front of the Brandeis goal. Sutherland, the Red Dragons’ second-leading goal scorer on the year, slammed the ball past goalkeeper Joe Graffy ’15 for his 11th goal of the season and gave the hosts an early 1-0 lead. 

SUNY Oneonta was not content to sit on the lead and kept the pressure on the Judges, producing three corners in quick succession after the 25th minute, including one that rang off the crossbar. They held the Judges to just one shot in the opening 45 minutes. The Red Dragons’ 1-0 lead was the first time all season Brandeis entered halftime trailing its opponent.

A fast-paced sequence in the 49th  minute turned from joy to heartbreak and culminated in the Judges conceding a second goal—only the second time all year Brandeis gave up multiple goals during a contest. The sequence started when midfielder Josh Ocel ’17 nearly netted an equalizing goal but caromed his shot off the right post, setting up a Red Dragons counterattack. SUNY Oneonta took the rebound up the right side of the field and worked it into junior midfielder Greg Silvestro. Silvestro—who shook his defender and was left all alone in front of Graffy—slotted home his second goal of the season, putting the game out of reach for the Judges.

Even after allowing the early second-half goal, Brandeis did not stop its attack, as Ocel had a 66th-minute shot that was punched over the crossbar, and forward Tyler Savonen ’15 knocked a ball off the outside of the post in the 77th minute after dribbling around three SUNY Oneonta defenders. The Red Dragons would put the game away after Savonen’s miss, quickly getting the ball into their attacking third and placing the ball into an open net after Graffy came out to try to intercept a cross. 

“Ocel had a shot that, if it were an inch lower, would have gone in,” Coven said. “It’s a matter of inches, and [if the shot had gone in] it would have been closer.”

On Saturday afternoon, the Judges needed penalty kicks to defeat Amherst College to set up the top-five showdown with SUNY Oneonta. The 13th-ranked Jeffs held a 17-12 shot advantage but could not crack the nation’s third-ranked defense. Each squad missed a number of opportunities during regulation and the overtime session, including back-to-back Amherst shots that bounced off the post.

Amherst grabbed a 3-2 lead in penalty kicks after Savonen missed the opening attempt, but the Judges battled back to tie it up at 4-4, setting up sudden death. The teams traded goals until forward Evan Jastremski ’17 blasted home his seventh-round shot, and Graffy forced the ensuing Amherst shot to go wide, punching the Judges’ ticket to Sunday’s contest with the Red Dragons.

Coven pointed to the support the squad received from traveling fans who made the nearly four-hour dive to upstate New York.

“We had about 100 fans up there [in Oneonta], and they were great,” he commented. “They were vocal, and their support this year was truly appreciated.”

The squad finishes the season tied for a school-record 19 wins and set new records with 17 shutouts, nine goals allowed and a 0.38 goals-against average. 

“I hope the loss does not diminish what the team accomplished [this year],” Coven remarked. “The team only gave up one goal at home.” 

“The only thing we could have improved on coming down the stretch is we didn’t score goals, … but the attitude of these kids, the work ethic, [it’s unbelievable].”