On Thursday morning, Chicago (8–4–0 overall, 1–1–0 UAA) left campus bright and early to make its way to Boston for a match against No. 10 Brandeis (11–1–1 overall, 1–1 UAA). After facing off against the Brandeis Judges, the Maroons will then head to Manhattan for their second game of the weekend against No. 16 NYU (9–2–0 overall, 1–1–0 UAA).
The weekend getaway to the East Coast provides an opportunity for the Maroons to bounce back from a disappointing loss at the hands of the University of Rochester last weekend.
However, bouncing back will not be easy, seeing as both opponents the Maroons will face this weekend are ranked in the top 25 nationally. Additionally, traveling has proven to be a challenge for the Maroons thus far in the season, with all of the team’s losses coming on the road. The squad remains undefeated at home and had won three consecutive games on its own Stagg Field before traveling to Rochester, where the Yellow Jackets defeated them 1–0.
Brandeis is entering the match with a recent 2–0 win over conference foe Case Western. The Judges started the season with an impressive nine game winning streak and have only allowed five goals over their 13 games this season.
On the other hand, NYU suffered a recent 0–1 loss to conference opponent Carnegie Mellon in double overtime. The Maroons will look to exploit the Violets in their time of weakness.
“The team is looking forward to building on the momentum and success we had last year, especially with the promising and talented new first-year class we have onboard with us,” second–year Caroline Olivero said.
The depth that Olivero talks about has been extremely evident all season. In the team’s eight wins this season, it has won by an average of 3.25 goals, and eight different Maroons have netted two or more goals in the season.
Despite several disappointing losses on the road, there is still hope that the team can rally to win out the conference and qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
“The UAA championship and NCAA title are definitely within our sights, and now it’s simply a matter of putting the pieces together and realizing the potential of the team we have,” Olivero said. “As far as this weekend is concerned, a win on the road is definitely the goal. We have experienced a lot of success on our home field and are anxious to see that success translated at Brandeis.”
Chicago will face off against Brandeis this Friday at 4 p.m. EST, and NYU on Sunday at 11 a.m. EST.
