After losing three consecutive games, the men’s soccer team snapped its scoring drought with a 1-0 win over Brandeis.

“We started well, which we normally don’t do,” sophomore forward Patrick McLean said. “Our defense always plays well, so normally if we get even a single goal, we will win the game, but scoring is our problem.”

In the 13th minute, the Judges were whistled for a handball inside the box. The play set up a penalty kick for senior co-captain John Hengel, which he converted for the game-winning goal and his seventh score of the season.

“There was a ball played into the box, and Nat [Zenner] challenged one of the Brandeis defenders, and [the defender] just hit the ball blatantly with his hand,” Hengel said.

Although the Judges held a one-shot advantage in each half, the Bears allowed few scoring opportunities. Wash. U. did not allow any shots on goal in the second half, and with two saves for the game, senior goalie John Smelcer earned the 27th shutout of his career.

“We defended well, and we won a lot of balls in the back,” Hengel said. “We were good in the air and defended all their offensive attacks.”

Wash. U. 1, New York University 2

Despite outshooting NYU 16-9 on Sunday, the Bears fell to the Violets 2-1. The loss brings the team’s University Athletic Association record to an even 3-3. The win was NYU’s first in UAA play.

“I think Brandeis was a better team, but we really didn’t play very well in either game.” McLean said. “Losing to NYU just shows you that better teams can lose a lot of the time.”

The Bears and the Violets each recorded five shots in the first half, but after 45 minutes of play, both teams were scoreless.

Early in the second half, the Violets recorded the first goal of the game. Freshman midfielder Ronny Scardino got a shot past Smelcer on an assist from fellow freshman Kyle Green. Green continued the Violets’ offensive attack with a goal under 10 minutes later to make the score 2-0.

“The first goal was amazingly lucky; it went through Randy [Schoen’s] legs, I think, and went into the side netting. It was the first time [Scardino] shot. It’s just luck, but sometimes you get a lucky shot,” McLean said. “The second goal was just our mistake, another miscommunication between the backs and the keeper.”

The Bears responded quickly with a goal by junior Harry Beddo in the 69th minute. Beddo’s score came on a rebound from a previous shot. Beddo had six shots on the day, four of which were on goal.

“Against NYU, we really picked it up after they scored their two goals and after that we dominated the rest of the game,” Hengel said. “But we need to have that level of intensity from the beginning and get that early lead like we did against Brandeis.”

The Bears play their final game of a three-game road trip on Saturday at the University of Chicago. Game time is set for 11 a.m.

The No. 16 women’s team (14-4, 6-1 UAA) will rematch No. 15 NYU (16-2, 5-2 UAA) tonight at 6 p.m., five days after the Bears defeated the then-No. 8 ranked Violets 63-53. Sophomore Kathryn Berger posted a team-high 11 points in the victory, the 10th win for the Bears in their past 11 games.

During halftime of the women’s game, the 2008 Washington University Sports Hall of Fame class will be recognized. Ten of the newest inductees are former student-athletes, including Tasha Rodgers, a member of all four women’s basketball NCAA National Championship teams from 1998-2001, and Kevin Folkl, the men’s basketball team’s ninth all-time leading scorer and career leader in field goal percentage.

Also being inducted are two Distinguished Service Honorees, Hord Hardin (’35) and W. Edward Lansche (’48), bringing the total in the Hall of Fame to 132.

The men’s basketball team, ranked No. 2 in Division III nationally (17-1, 7-0 UAA), will then play NYU (13-5, 2-5 UAA) at 8 p.m. Junior guard Aaron Thompson will look to continue his hot streak, having scored 29 points in Sunday’s 67-56 win. Thompson is averaging 18.6 points per game for the season and has led the Bears in scoring the past five games.

The St. Louis Rams cheerleaders will perform during halftime of the men’s game and will be signing autographs after the game.

“[The Rams cheerleaders] actually contacted us and wanted to come perform at Wash. U., and they’re actually tied in with somebody who is affiliated with [the University],” said Trevor MacDonald, director of marketing and external relations for Washington University Athletics.

Tonight is also Eliot Night, where many of the contributors to University and athletic funding are invited to attend both games and a dinner beforehand.

Trying to remain perfect in UAA conference play, the men will play Brandeis University on Sunday at noon. Brandeis (12-6, 5-2 UAA) is the No. 2 team in the UAA and will be looking for revenge after a close 80-75 loss on Friday, Jan. 30 in which the Judges gave up the most points they had all season.

Despite having four players score in double figures, the Judges were bested by Wash. U.’s balanced offense and Thompson’s 18 points.

“Rematch games are always a little bit harder, especially offensively, because the other team gets to make defense adjustments. But if you flip that around, we get to make defensive adjustments also,” junior forward Cameron Smith said. “Every game in the UAA is going to be a dogfight, and Brandeis is one of the better teams [in the conference] this year, and we know they’re going to come to play on Sunday.”

Sunday, Feb. 8 is the second annual Youth Day, featuring free autographs from all of the basketball players, face painting, J.J. Jumper (the NCAA mascot), giveaways and much more youth-centered programming.

“We’ve done a lot of clinics throughout the year where kids keep coming back because they need a Sean Wallis or a Tyler Nading, and they want to come back and see them play and say hello to them. I think it’s nice to see the kids come out and get to see their idols play, and meet them and get their autographs,” MacDonald said.

At 2 p.m., the women take the court in another tough battle against No. 24 Brandeis (13-4, 3-4 UAA). Last weekend, the Bears defeated Brandeis 61-55 in a come-from-behind victory.

This weekend’s women’s games are of added importance given how close the UAA standings currently are. Wash. U. and No. 3 Rochester are tied atop the conference at 6-1 while NYU is only one game behind at 5-2. Rochester will face Emory and Case Western Reserve University this weekend, both of whom are 2-5 in conference play while Brandeis and NYU will also face the University of Chicago (13-5, 4-3 UAA) this weekend.

Wash. U. defeated Brandeis 80-75 on Friday night in Waltham, Mass. and then knocked off NYU 67-56 on Sunday afternoon in New York City.

Five Bears scored in double figures against Brandeis, which entered the game allowing a UAA-low 62.2 points per game. A week after being named UAA athlete of the week, junior guard Aaron Thompson led all scorers with 18 points and junior forward Cameron Smith tied a career-high with 15 points on 6-6 shooting from the field. Senior forward Tyler Nading and freshman forward Alex Toth also scored in double figures with 12 and 11 points respectively while senior guard Sean Wallis posted his fourth double-double of the year with 12 points and a game-high 11 assists.

The 80 points were the most Brandeis has allowed all season.

“When we got our shots, we knocked ’em down,” Smith said. “When you play against a good team, you have to make open shots and we did.”

The teams traded buckets early in the first half before Wash. U. went on an 11-1 run to jump ahead 22-12. A layup by Toth with 3:41 left put the Bears up 35-26, but a three-pointer from Kevin Olson and a layup by Andrew Magee cut the Bears’ halftime lead to 37-33.

The Red and Green began the second half by hitting 10 of 16 shots, but the Judges hung in the game. Thompson put Wash. U. up 61-50 at the halfway mark of the period with a deep three-pointer and then a 15-footer, but Olson nailed two threes and Andre Roberson added another to trim the lead to 63-59 with 7:44 remaining.

Wash. U. led 71-63 with 4:29 left when a Brandeis dancer was injured during a time-out, delaying the game for 30 minutes. The Bears struggled after the bizarre incident, and Brandeis scored five straight points to cut the lead to 71-68.

“[The break] definitely changed the whole feel of the game, because the last four and a half minutes were just bizarre. It was almost like starting a new game because you never wait 30 minutes during games,” Smith said. “It was one of the weirdest things I’ve ever been a part of in a basketball game.”

Wash. U. was able to regain its composure after the brief Brandeis run when Smith hit a three-pointer in the corner with 2:33 left to put the team up 74-68. Wallis and Thompson then went 6-6 from the free-throw line collectively down the stretch to seal the victory.

Against NYU on Sunday, Thompson led the way for the Bears by pouring in 29 points on 9-19 shooting, including 5 of 9 from three-point range. It was the sixth time Thompson has scored at least 20 points in a game this season and his third-highest total of the year.

The rest of the team struggled offensively, as the Bears shot just 39.6 percent from the field for the game and 1 for 5 from three-point range in the second half.

It was the Wash. U. defense that ensured another victory, holding NYU to 44.4 percent shooting and forcing 17 turnovers. The Bears also outscored NYU 20-12 in points off turnovers and 16-0 in second-chance points.

“They were really physical, and on a Sunday after two weekends of travel, it’s kind of tough to get up for that Sunday game. But we started getting some shots to go and then pretty much just controlled the boards and defensively really handled them,” Thompson said.

The Bears started slow, missing their first seven shots from the field and falling behind 9-0. Back-to-back three-pointers by Thompson ignited an astonishing 28-3 Wash. U. run. During the run, the Bears hit six three-pointers, including five from Thompson, and held NYU without a field goal for nearly nine minutes.

“A.T. [Thompson] was the catalyst today,” Smith said. “We were not putting the ball in the hole, and then A.T. hits five threes…and all of a sudden you look up at the board and its 28-12.”

Wash. U. entered halftime leading 34-25 and built the lead to 42-31 to start the second half before D.J. Glavan got the Violets back into the game by rattling off seven straight points. NYU got as close as 54-50, but did not score in the final 1:58 of the game as the Bears sealed the victory on a Wallis three-pointer and free throws by Wallis and Thompson.

Wash. U. will begin the second half of conference play by returning home to face these teams again. The Bears play NYU on Friday at 8 p.m. and then square off against Brandeis on Sunday at noon.

No. 11 Washington University women’s soccer improved to 11-2-1 (4-0 UAA) on the season with conference wins on Friday against New York University and Sunday against Brandeis University. The team currently has a five-game winning streak.

Freshman phenom Lee Ann Felder netted the game-winning goal in the 84th minute to beat Brandeis 2-1 and keep the Bears on top of the UAA rankings. The goal was Felder’s team-leading sixth of the season. She also leads the team in points with 14 on the season.

While the midfield play against the Judges was again underwhelming, the team still came out slugging, outshooting Brandeis 7-2 in the first half. The Red and Green took a 1-0 lead into the break when a pair of freshmen midfielders combined to break the tie. Freshman Emma Brown got the assist as classmate Rachel Haas took advantage of a loose ball in front of the net and scored her first collegiate goal.

In the second half, the Judges tied the score in the 73rd minute. The gamed seemed destined for overtime until Felder scored on a gorgeous pass from senior midfielder Caitlin Malone. Felder dove and made contact with the ball, punching it into the back of the net.

“Lee Ann’s goal was amazing,” junior back Cassie Scaman said. “Even though we didn’t play to our capabilities, we still came out with a win, so that definitely says something about the character of our team.”

Friday’s game against New York University played out in very much the same format. Senior Jenny Philip netted her second goal of the season in the 35th minute as she one-timed a cross from Brown. The Violets went on to tie the game in the 60th minute.

With the pressure on, Malone sent a ball into the far corner of the net with Brown again assisting. The goal was the 18th of Malone’s career, moving her into 10th place on the all-time goals scored list. The goal was also the 10th game-winner of her career, good enough for fourth place on the all-time list.

“We remain undefeated, which was our overall goal for the weekend,” junior forward Caryn Rosoff said. After winning both weekend games, the team holds a one-game lead in the UAA over No. 18 Emory University.

“Winning the UAA would be huge since it would give us an automatic bid to the [NCAA Tournament]…we definitely have a target on our back. It’s easy to get complacent because we’re on the top,” Rosoff said.

The Lady Bears continue their UAA campaign on Oct. 31 at Rochester. The Bears finish off their four-game homestand against 10th-ranked Rhodes College on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 9:30 a.m.

The No. 4 Washington University volleyball team lost to No. 2 Emory for the third time in school history this weekend, falling 1-3 in a tightly fought match at the second University Athletic Association Round Robin.

The Red and Green also edged out the University of Chicago 3-2 and swept Brandeis University and New York University (NYU) to take the No. 2 seed in the UAA championships, hosted by Wash. U. on Nov. 7 and 8.

Wash. U. started off strong against the Eagles, taking the first set 25-21 despite two occasions where Emory closed to within one point. Even with senior Alli Alberts’ career high of 17 kills, the Bears could not overcome the Eagles in the next three sets.

“We really just need to figure out how to get out of ruts,” senior Ali Crouch said. “Be more creative with our shots and tool more.”

The fourth set proved to be the most competitive, as Wash. U. built up two four-point leads, but the Bears could not finish and fell 27-25. “Stats don’t matter, especially when you lose,” Alberts said.

The University of Chicago fought hard to even their match and force a fifth set against Wash. U. after trailing by two sets. “Chicago came out pretty scrappy as well and played a really good game against us,” Alberts said.

Senior Nikki Morrison, junior Erin Albers and freshman Kristen Thomas recorded double-digit kills, finishing with 17, 13 and 11, respectively, as Wash. U. took the first two sets 25-15 and 25-11. The Red and Green were plagued by errors in the third and fourth sets, dropping them 25-21 and 25-22.

The Bears came back in the final set with a 15-7 finish. Freshman Tricia Brandt had a memorable day on defense, recording a personal best of 23 digs.

The Bears swept Brandeis (25-22, 25-13, 25-18) and NYU (25-21, 25-15, 25-17) on Saturday. Freshman Erin Kasson led the way against Brandeis, recording eight kills on a .571 performance, while Morrison had a team high of 11 kills on a .455 showing. Albers and senior Ali Crouch had career days against NYU, with Albers smashing out 15 kills on 18 attempts for a .833 percentage and Crouch hitting .480 for 13 kills.

“[Albers] hit like a monster,” Alberts said. “I was waiting for her to break out. I knew it was going to be soon. When she is on, she cannot be stopped.”

Albers was more nonchalant when asked about her accomplishment. “No one can have a perfect hitting game without good defense and a good setter,” Albers said.

Wash. U. hosts one more tournament before the UAA championships at home. The Red and Green take on Concordia University and Culver-Stockton College on Oct. 31 and compete against Monmouth College and Millikin University on Nov. 1.

Bears dig for a cure

Washington University’s 7 p.m. match against Division II University of Missouri-St. Louis features the Bear’s first Dig for a Cure event.

Private donors have pledged funds for every dig that the Bears record for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation. Proceeds from donations at the door, T-shirt sales, a silent auction and a raffle for an iPod will also support breast cancer research. “It’s a cause that’s very near and dear to the team’s heart,” Assistant Coach Louella Lovely-Maxwell said.

The Dig for a Cure program was started in 2003 by former University of North Carolina-Charlotte Volleyball Coach Lisa Marston after her mother survived breast cancer. Since then, more than 220 collegiate and high school programs have joined in the event.

The Bears will be warming up in pink shirts, wearing pink ribbons and playing with a pink volleyball in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

“It is a fantastic opportunity for our team to give back and have fun at the same time,” Alberts said. “This is our first year, so I really hope lots of people come out to support such a wonderful cause and also help cheer us on to victory.”

The team has expressed their hopes that community members support the foundation. More information on how to donate can be found by contacting Head Coach Rich Luenemann.

“That Emory game is always a tough game on our schedule, but to rebound and get these two big wins in conference really sets us up for the rest of the year,” senior co-captain Kevin Brege said.

Wash. U. jumped out to an early lead against NYU when freshman Patrick McLean scored just 33 seconds into the game. McLean, making his first career start while filling in for injured forward Harry Beddo, one-timed a pass from senior Pierre Hoppenot to put the Red and Green up 1-0. The goal was the first of McLean’s career and came in his sixth game for the Red and Green.

“[McLean] is more than a fill-in even if Harry is here,” Head Coach Joe Clarke said. “Pat McLean is going to be a special player in his time at Washington U.”

Wash. U. remained ahead until the 76th minute, when NYU junior Brandon Hintz sent a cross into the box that freshman Badr Bevaart headed in to tie the score at 1-1.

The Bears prevailed when junior Nat Zenner scored just 2:38 into the first overtime period. Off a free kick, junior Nick Karr lofted a pass into the NYU box that found its way through goalkeeper Mark Urbanski’s hands to Zenner, who sent it to the far corner for the game-winner.

“It was a great result for us,” co-captain Marshall Plow said. “We knew they like to push up hard and put a lot of pressure on teams from the game tape, so we managed in the first minute of the game to just capitalize on their flat defensive players and get behind them. It was great coaching by Joe.”

Wash. U. also got on the board early against Brandeis on Sunday. In the 11th minute of the game, sophomore Nick Wilbar struck a low cross that found senior Cliff Goldkind at the top of the Judges’ box. Goldkind buried a shot from 20 yards out past goalkeeper Sean O’Hare to give the Bears a 1-0 advantage.

Junior John Hengel added to the Bears’ lead in the 33rd minute when Brandeis turned the ball over on a goal kick, and Hengel netted a goal on a breakaway. The goal was Hengel’s team-leading seventh of the year.

Brandeis gained momentum in the second half and cut Wash. U.’s lead to 2-1 in the 55th minute when junior Jaime Batista scored on a give-and-go with junior Bill Murphy. However, the Bears’ defense managed to keep Brandeis off the board the rest of the way to hold on to another 2-1 victory.

“I thought we came out really well in the first half,” Brege said. “We came out really strong. We had a lot of new faces in the starting lineup, and we came out really hard. Then, in the second half, we kind of came out a little lackadaisically, the moment shifted a little bit, but we did a good job of battling through.”

The wins put the Red and Green record to 10-3 overall and 3-1 in the UAA. The Bears are tied for second in the UAA with the University of Rochester and trail first-place Emory by three points with three games to play in conference.

“I couldn’t be happier with where we are right now,” Clarke said. “We’re having to battle a lot of injuries, and we’re having to move players aroundÉWe’re doing the best we can.”

Wash. U. returns to action on Friday at 7:30 p.m. against Dominican University at Francis Field. Dominican enters the game on an 11-game winning streak and is 13-2 overall.

This year, Wash. U. will look to build on a win after the No. 4 Bears took out the No. 1 Eagles 3-2 in the UAA championship match on Saturday. “It’s just the beginning,” senior Alli Alberts said.

The Red and Green fought a seesaw battle with the Eagles the entire match, taking the first and third sets 25-18 and 25-13, respectively. “We all just wanted it,” freshman Kristen Thomas said. “It feels great and gives us a lot of confidence.”

Senior Nikki Morrison led the team with 14 kills, Thomas had 12 and junior Erin Albers had 11 kills. Emory fought through 15 kills in the second set to take the frame 26-24 and won the fourth set 25-19.

“The key to our win was our backcourt play, our digging and passing,” Head Coach Rich Luenemann said. “Audra [Janak] did a great job directing the offense.” Junior Laura Brazeal, Alberts and freshman Tricia Brandt had 24, 20 and 14 digs, respectively, which gave the Bears opportunities throughout the match.

The Bears fought back from a four-point deficit in the final frame, culminating with a block by freshman Erin Kasson and Alberts to tie the score at seven. Emory ex-tended its lead to 11-8 before the Bears caught up.

The turning point occurred when Janak punched the ball off an Emory blocker to tie the score at 11. After two Emory attack errors, an Emory kill and a solo block by Alberts, the stage was set for the final point. Albers took a set from Janak and spiked the champion-ship-winning point down the middle for a 15-12 victory. “It doesn’t matter who scores it,” Albers said. “It’s awesome.”

The UAA title was the 19th in program history and the third in five years.

Path to Championship Match

The Bears swept New York University and Case Western Reserve University on Friday. Wash. U. put together strings of points for 25-16 and 25-18 victories in the first two sets against NYU. The Violets appeared rattled in the third set with numerous errors, as the Bears picked up the 25-18 win using only seven kills.

Morrison, with her 11 kills, led the Bears against Case in a 25-18, 25-10, 25-10 sweep. Wash. U. had 18 kills in the first set alone. Albers led the Bears through the first frame and Thomas led the team in the second with five kills each.

The Bears stumbled against Carnegie Mellon University on Saturday morning, dropping the initial frame 25-27 after establishing a 21-15 lead. They came out of the break fired up, and Morrison scored the last four points, grabbing the second set with a solo block. Wash. U.’s momentum continued to flow, as the Bears shot to 11-4 in the third set with senior Ali Crouch’s three kills. The lead was extended to 21-5 after back-to-back aces by Janak. A block by Alberts and Albers brought the Bears to a 24-10 advantage. Albers scored the last point with a right side spike. The final set was more of the same, as Albers sealed the 25-14 win. “We finally started to click,” Alberts said. “I can’t wait to play again.”

With the UAA title, the Bears clinched an automatic berth to the NCAA Championship Tournament. Wash. U. finds out where their regional will be held on Monday. The winner of each regional will move on to Bloomington, Ill. where the national championship tournament will be held.

The Bears are not resting on their laurels and will be hard at work. “The celebration is over,” Alberts said. “We have regionals.”