The sixth-ranked Case Western Reserve University women's soccer team won its second conference game of the season, shutting out 19th-ranked Brandeis University 2-0 at Gordon Field in Waltham, Massachusetts, on Friday night.
The Spartans improved to 12-1-2 this season and 2-1-1 in University Athletic Association play, while the Judges dropped to 7-4-3 overall and 0-4-0 in conference contests.
Stats and Standouts
- Sophomore goalkeeper Ellie Palaian tied the single-season program record with her 10th shutout in 2025, saving three shots in 90 minutes
- Palaian dropped her goals against average to 0.47 and improved her save percentage to .829
- First-year Mia Modrovich and senior Maggie Farra were the two goal scorers for CWRU with senior Molly Shamah and first-year Izzy Probst earning assists
- Farra and senior Ceci Dapino tied for the team lead with four shots with three from Dapino on goal
- The Spartans held a 15-8 advantage in shots, 9-3 edge in shots on goal, and 12-4 lead in corner kicks in the match
First Half
- The first chance of the game came in the seventh minute on a Brandeis corner kick, but the Spartans cleared the ball away without a shot attempt
- A shot by the Judges hit the crossbar in the 11th minute, and the CWRU defense sent away another corner kick in the 17th minute without a shot
- The Spartans earned four corner kicks in a three-minute span, eventually leading to the first goal of the game
- Shamah sent a high-arching pass into the box, that was headed by teammate closer to the goal
- Modrovich managed to attempt a shot on the dropping ball, sneaking the strike past the goalkeeper to put the Spartans ahead in the 21st minute
- It was the first goal of Modrovich's career, and Shamah was credited with her fifth assist of the campaign
- CWRU nearly doubled its lead just three minutes later with a shot by Farra that required a diving stop
- The Spartans attempted four more shots in the half, including two on goal, while preventing the Judges from taking even one chance at goal for the rest of the period
Second Half
- Brandeis went on the attack to start the second period, sending a long shot that hit the crossbar in the 49th minute
- Three minutes later, the Judges earned a free kick on the far side of the field outside the box, but the team's ensuing shot went wide
- Palaian saved her first shot of the day in the 54th minute
- CWRU nearly scored two minutes later when Dapino raced into the box on a corner kick and sent a strike to the lower left corner that was saved
- The Spartans finally found the back of the net for the second time in the 65th minute
- A throw-in to Probst on the end line was passed to Farra on the edge of the six-yard box
- She took one step toward the goal and fired the ball past the goalkeeper for her team-leading 11th score of the season
- Probst was credited with her team-leading eighth assist of the campaign
- Palaian recorded her second save in the 71st minute, keeping the Spartan advantage at two
- The Judges had a pair of shots in the final 10 minutes, with Palaian recording a save, but the hosts were unable to score
Spartan Notes
- The Spartans improved to 12-19-5 all-time against Brandeis and have not lost to the Judges since the pandemic
- CWRU entered the contest ranked fifth in the NCAA Power Index which is used to determine at-large selections and seeding in the NCAA Tournament. Brandeis was 51st, which was last among the eight UAA schools. Four conference teams were in the top five, including top-ranked WashU, second-ranked Emory, and third-ranked Chicago
- The Spartans moved into a tie for third with Chicago in the conference standings with both teams on seven points. WashU leads the league with 12 points followed by Emory with 10
- Case Western Reserve improved to 2-1-2 against opponents ranked in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 this season
- Farra's 11 goals are tied for the fifth most by a Spartan in a single campaign, while Probst's eight assists are two shy of the program record last set in 2022
- Modrovich became the 14th player to score a goal for CWRU this season