WALTHAM, Mass. – In a battle of top 25 teams, the #18 Brandeis University men's soccer team saw an early two-goal lead slip away as #9 Wheaton College rallied to earn a 3–3 draw on Wednesday afternoon at Gordon Field.

TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis, 6-0-2, ranked #18 in Division III by United Soccer Coaches
• Wheaton, 6-0-2, ranked #9 in Division III by United Soccer Coaches

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Judges struck quickly as senior Rainer Osselmann-Chai (Acton, Mass./Acton-Boxborough Regional) scored a penalty kick in the 11th minute for his third goal of the season, putting Brandeis ahead 1–0.
• Just over a minute later, the lead doubled. Junior Kenshin Murakawa (Osaka, Japan/Lexington (Mass.) lofted a long cross-field pass to senior Elan Romo (Weston, Fla./Cypress Bay), who shot the ball over the Wheaton goalkeeper for his first goal of the season.
• The Lyons responded in the 23rd minute, when Aiden Doyle scored a penalty kick to cut the Brandeis lead to 2–1.
• The Judges restored their two-goal cushion early in the second half. Senior Nico Beninda (Monroe Township, N.J./Monroe Township) scored his team-leading fourth goal of the season with a header in the 50th minute. The assist went to Romo, who was involved in all three goals, as he drew the foul in the box that led to the Judges' first goal.
• Wheaton answered quickly, just two minutes and two seconds later, with Doyle netting his second penalty kick in the 52nd minute to make it 3–2.
• The Lyons completed their comeback in the 76th minute, as Austin Hoadley found the top right corner off a feed from Joey Everett to level the match, 3–3.
• Brandeis goalkeeper Tyler Correnti (West Newbury, Mass./Pentucket Regional) finished with four saves, including key stops in the 53rd and 63rd minutes to preserve the tie. Wheaton's Michael O'Gara registered six saves, with four coming in the first half to keep the Lyons within striking distance.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Beninda's goal gives him the team lead with four this season. He now has 12 goals for his career. 
• Romo recorded both a goal and an assist for his first multi-point game of the season. 
• The Judges extended their unbeaten start to the season to eight games (6-0-2), the team's longest since 2014. They are on an 11-game streak dating back to last season (9-0-2), their longest streak since a 16-0-1 string that stretched from the end of the 2011 campaign to the start of 2012.
• Brandeis and Wheaton have met 37 times in men's soccer since 1989, with Brandeis holding a close 16–18–3 record in the series.
• This is the first tie between the two teams since 2019.

UP NEXT

• Brandeis men's soccer's next game is at home against John Carroll University from Ohio. The second-ever meeting between the Judges and the Blue Streaks takes place on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.