THE JUSTICE
XC: Squad runs to strong finish in season finale CONTINUED FROM 16 first time Brandeis had appeared in the poll since the fourth edition of the 2010 season. The team responded well to their spot in the national ranking, taking home a third-place finish at the UAA Championships. The team finished behind New York University, ranked sixth nationally at the time, and the University of Chicago, the 17th-ranked squad that week. Meanwhile, the Judges finished four points ahead of WashU— ranked second nationally at the time of the UAA Championships. The national rankings reflected the strong performance of the Judges, who then jumped 11 spots to 22nd in the Nov. 6 edition of the poll, the highest ranking Brandeis had achieved since their No. 20 ranking in 2010. After the team finished in fifthplace out of 53 competing teams in New England Division III Regionals, the stage had been set. The Judges maintained their 22nd spot in the poll and earned a spot to the NCAA Championships. At the championships, the Judges fought through a difficult course to earn a finish in line with their national ranking. Sanford stressed the difficulty posed by both the weather and the course itself. “It was a tough race, the coldest conditions we have ever run in,” she explained. “It was very overwhelming to be competing at that level.” Lundkvist started off the six-kilometer race in conservative fashion, covering the first third of the race in 7:24. However, she was able to close hard over the next four kilometers and finished strong. Maddie Dolins ’17 capped her first year of collegiate cross-country in style, cracking the top 100 with her 91st-place finish. Dolins, an All-New England Honoree at the New England Division III Regional Championship, covered the undulating course in 22:35.2. Kelsey Whitaker ’16 cracked the 23-minute barrier, running 22:58.1, good for 155th place. Sanford, who along with Lundkvist and Dolins, was also an AllNew England Honoree, finished off her cross-country career with a
strong effort for 164th place, completing the course in 23:02.5. Ashley Piccirillo ’17 completed her first year as the final scorer for Brandeis, timing in at 24:00.8. Kate Farrell ’17 and Maggie Hensel ’16 also ran in the showpiece occasion for the Judges, finishing with times of 25:02.06 and 25:16.00, respectively. Sanford maintained a positive outlook on the day, even while looking for room to improve. “On a team level we didn't do as well as we had hoped,” she explained. “Runners are always looking to improve and it would have been nice to finish inside the top 20 [finishing teams].” “I'm a little sad that we didn't crack the top 20, but the fact [that we did so well] is a huge accomplishment and I think it'll be a huge help moving forward.” Lundkvist echoed her co-captain's enthusiasm about the race the Judges ran. “We all got out really well, which was good,” she explained. “I think people were a little disappointed with their races, but to compete at that caliber is an achievement in itself and I think they remembered that. Considering it was everyone's first time at Nationals—and we had three freshmen—everyone was brave and we ran to expectation since we were 22nd,” she said. While the losses of Lundkvist and Sanford to graduation will leave large shoes to fill, the Judges bring back ample talent and should compete in future years. “Next year looks great,” Lundkvist said. “They're losing me and Vicky but we are so young.” “We had a freshman in the top five and two sophomores and these girls are only going to get better. I'm excited to see what they're going to do next.” Sanford paralled her teammate's exceitment about the future of the cross-country team. “[The] squad only has two seniors, and the rest are [mostly] freshman,” she said. “The fact that we are only graduating two runners is a really good sign.” On the heels of their surprising success this season, the Judges have every right to be optimistic moving forward into the spring season and beyond. — Avi Gold contributed reporting
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November 26, 2013
13
FIGHTING FOR SPACE
MORGAN BRILL/the Justice
GAINING SEPARATION: Forward Michael Soboff ’15 tries to brush off a Williams College defender during the team’s 2-0 loss.
MSOCCER: Judges unable to overcome early goal in loss CONTINUED FROM 16 ing his close-range shot wide of the left post. Shortly after, midfielder Tudor Livadaru ’14 sent a free-kick on goal. However, the shot sailed straight to Morrell, who made the save. Forward Tyler Savonen ’15 had a half chance to equalize, running in toward the Williams goal with Morrell out of position. However, instead of taking an ambitious early shot, he waited and the ball was cleared from danger. With eight minutes to play, forward Zach Vieira ’17 sent a header over the bar, marking Brandeis’ last meaningful chance. As the Judges continued to push for an equalizer, Rashid—who struggled to finish all afternoon— finally delivered the killer blow in the 83rd minute, curling an effort around Graffy that caromed off the right post and into the net. The Judges had several chances to try to cut the deficit, but it ultimately was not to be—Williams ran out 2-0 winners. Coven lamented the team’s failure to finish its shots. “We played very well in the back third and middle third but I think
we had one too many touches, one too many passes in the attacking third of the field,” he said. “We were looking to just make that perfect shot, perfect pass and perfect dribble in the box. I tell them, ‘once you get the ball in the box, shoot it.’ We got behind their backs quite a bit but couldn’t finish.” Though disappointed that his team was knocked out at the same stage of the season by the same foes, Coven admitted that—following successive losses to Carnegie Mellon University and Emory University on Oct. 18 and Oct. 20, respectively—he did not even think his team would make the NCAA Tournament this year. “I remember sitting in the airport after the losses,” he said. “We had a four-hour wait and I was sitting there saying, ‘We’ll be an Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference team. Maybe we’ll win that tournament.’ Never did I think that we would turn it around and make the NCAA Tournament. But we did. They showed a lot of character, they knew what they had to do and they did it well.” While the team loses Applefield, midfielder Kyle Feather ’14, Livadaru and Ocel, as well as other valu-
able contributors such as defender Ethan Berceli ’14, midfielder Harold Salinas ’14, forward Steve Salazar ’14 and Matt Peabody ’13, the team has a solid foundation coming back. “This year’s seniors are a special group,” he said. “I’ll miss them. They set a wonderful example for the younger kids, in the classroom, on the field and off the field. We lose some great players, but we lose great players every year,” Coven continued. “A good program loses good players every year, but you’re going to have other players coming up to replace them. If you can do that, then you’re going to traditionally be good program.” And despite the stinging feeling of the loss, Coven was happy to look back on a successful campaign. “It was a great season,” he said. “We all feel bad right now and we all feel that we should be playing [in the next round]. But how many Division III schools in the country have soccer programs? Maybe 400? And here we are in the final 16. You have to be happy with that.” This year’s senior class, a core that advanced to two consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, leaves the team in a position to hopefully compete for years to come.
Women’s basketball
Team cannot maintain leads in defeats to regional opponents
■ The women could not
complete a comeback over Roger Williams University and lost to Tufts University. By ELAN KANE JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
The women’s basketball team limped to two consecutive losses this week, falling Saturday to No. 9 Tufts University, 67-43, and last Tuesday to Roger Williams University, 65-53. With the defeats, the squad drops to 1-3 on the year. The Judges started off on the right note on Saturday. Guard Kasey Dean ’14 and forward Nicolina Vitale ’14 combined to give Brandeis a 9-2 advantage. During their run over the first three and a half minutes, Dean and Vitale contributed all nine points, including a three-point jumper from Dean that pushed the Judges’ lead to five points. The Jumbos responded with a scoring run of their own, though, scoring the next 13 straight points to open a 15-9 lead over the Judges with just un-
der 12 minutes remaining in the half. The Judges would not be put away easily, clawing back to within four points of the Jumbos twice over the next two minutes. Guard Janelle Rodriguez ’14 drove to the basket for a key layup to pull Brandeis back into the game. Tufts shot 46.7 percent from the field in the first half and made seven three-pointers on 14 shots, compared to 30.8 percent shooting from the field and just one three-pointer for the Judges. Vitale and Dean both topped the Judges with seven first-half points, but could not keep up with the Jumbos offense, as Tufts entered the locker room with a 35-20 halftime lead over Brandeis. The Jumbos continued their run in the second half, opening with a 15-5 run, stretching their lead to 5025 over the Judges. The half started quickly for the Jumbos, as Tufts junior forward Hayley Kanner hit a three-pointer just 15 seconds into the second half. Tufts used balanced scoring—five members of the team scored during the 15 point run—to run away from the hosts and put the game out of reach.
Dean led the Judges yet again in the second half, scoring 10 points in the half, including eight of the final nine points registered by Brandeis. Vitale contributed four points of her own in the second half for 11 on the day, adding one of her four rebounds for the contest during the second half. Brandeis managed to shoot just 29.2 percent from the floor in the second half, and could only gather 16 rebounds, compared to 31.4 percent shooting and 28 rebounds for Tufts. However, the individual performances were not enough for a comeback as Tufts went on to win their fourth game of the season. Meanwhile, the Judges put up quite a fight against Roger Williams on Tuesday. Each team went on several scoring runs, trading punches throughout the game. Though the Judges lost Tuesday’s game by a 12-point margin, the score did not reflect how close the game truly was. In the first half, Brandeis out-rebounded Roger Williams, grabbing 20 total boards—including seven offensive rebounds—compared to 16 total
boards for the Hawks. After trailing 17-10, the Judges went on a 6-1 run to bring themselves to within two points. Yet, the Hawks responded, going on a 15-7 run of their own to take the 33-23 halftime lead. Vitale led the way for Brandeis in the first half, scoring six points. However, the Judges came out firing to start the second half, going on a 13-1 run to take a two-point lead with just under 14 minutes remaining. Vitale explained that the run was simply a result of the team increasing its aggressiveness and intensity. “[In the] second half of [the] Roger Williams [game], we knew we had to come out more aggressive on both ends so we switched to a different press, which we are very comfortable in,” she said. “All of our mistakes the first half were either because we didn’t communicate or we went away from the game plan. We just had to regroup and play our game.” Though Brandeis held a 45-43 advantage with seven minutes, 54 seconds remaining, Roger Williams scored seven straight points to take the lead for good. Roger Williams se-
nior guard Kaitlyn Bovee scored 15 of her 32 points in the second half to lead the Hawks to victory. Though the Judges forced 22 turnovers and grabbed 16 offensive rebounds, it was not enough for the victory. Dean and Vitale scored 12 and 10 points, respectively, while center Angela Miller ’14 added eight points to go along with seven rebounds. Vitale praised the team for its ability to adjust in the second half of games, but noted that for the squad to succeed moving forward, it needs to work on improving its defense. “As a team, I think we were able to make half time adjustments very well. In both Colby [College] and Roger Williams we were able to come out in the second half and close 10 point leads in just a few minutes,” she said. “When we stick to our game plan and focus on the little things we are a good team. To be a great team we have to play a full 40 minutes and not play catch up the second half.” The Judges will continue their non-conference schedule tonight at 7 p.m. at Emmanuel College. — Avi Gold contributed reporting