DUDLEY, Mass. – The Nichols College men's soccer team fell 4-2 to Brandeis Wednesday afternoon in non-conference action at the Nichols Soccer Field.
 
The Judges – who are ranked No. 9 in the country according to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) – potted two goals in each half to move to 3-0-0 on the season.
 
Brandeis opened the scoring at 32:45 when senior Josh Ocel (North Attleboro, Mass.) connected on a penalty kick for his third goal of the season after a yellow card was assessed to sophomore goaltender Patrick Porpora (Westminster, Mass.).
 
Senior Michael Chaput (Holliston, Mass.) added one more before the end of the half when in the 44th minute he drove in a one-timer off the cross from sophomore Andrew Allen (Norfolk, Mass.) to make the score 2-0.
 
The Judges added another goal to make the score 3-0 early in the second half and the Bison finally got on the board at 73:07 when a free kick clanged off the cross bar and junior Paul Sickinger (Tyngsboro, Mass.) crashed the net and drove it in.
 
Brandeis extended the lead back to three when at 82:19. Allen fired a shot from near the top corner of the box that freshman goaltender Juan Carlos De La Cruz (Stamford, Conn.) was able to make a diving stop that was then rebounded and finished by freshman Max Breiter (Lincoln, Mass.).
 
Nichols (0-3-0) capped off the scoring in the 84th minute as sophomore William Aldrich (Belchertown, Mass.) scored on a penalty kick.
 
Porpora took the loss after playing the first 68:33 of the game and allowing three goals and making three saves. De La Cruz made two stops over the final 21:27. Junior Ben Woodhouse (Suffield, Conn.) earned the win after making six saves.
 
All-Time Series
Brandeis now leads the all-time series at 2-0-0 after defeating the Bison on its home field just last season.
 
Quotes
"With Brandeis coming in nationally ranked we were expecting to get beaten up. We finished with a little slap on the face so we will take what we learned from this match and build on it." – Nichols head coach Chris Traina
 
Next Games
Nichols (0-3-0) – Saturday, September 10 at Salve Regina, 3:00 p.m.
Brandeis (3-0-0) – Saturday, September 10 at Babson, 2:30 p.m.