MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – For the second time this week, the Wesleyan men's soccer defense posted a shutout victory over a nationally-ranked team, as the Cardinals defeated No. 15 Brandeis 3-0 on Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals have now won four straight games to open the 2022 season, the best start to a year since the 2006 campaign where they opened with seven straight wins. The Cardinals offense took their chances to support an incredible defense, producing 27 shots (21 SOG) to overwhelm the Judges' defense. Wesleyan moves to 4-0 to begin their year while Brandeis drops back to .500 at 2-2.

Following Tuesday night's epic 1-0 home win over No. 5 Tufts, Wesleyan has now held their opponents scoreless in three of their first four games, a feat that they accomplished seven times in 2021. On offense, it's been a team effort and it was no different Saturday afternoon with three different Cardinals scoring the three goals in the game. Through four games, there have been nine different Cardinal scorers with only one (Kyle Burbage '25) having multiple goals (2).

These two sides faced off for the first time since 1992 on Saturday afternoon at Jackson Field. Wesleyan's defense flexed its muscles in the first half, holding Brandeis to only two shots (1 on goal). Both of those shots came within the first five minutes of the contest, with Wesleyan holding the Judges without a shot for the final 40 minutes of the half, controlling the ball for the vast majority of the period.

Wesleyan's offense was applying pressure throughout the first 45 minutes, manufacturing 11 shots and five corners. Although they got opportunities, the game remained deadlocked at zero 25 minutes in. Then Zach Wheeler '25 came in and sparked some immediate scoring chances. First, he executed a give-and-go off of a corner that freed himself up for a shot that was turned away by Aiden Guthro. He followed that up with another shot that broke the scoreless tie just six minutes later. Wheeler lined up a corner kick that looped in over the goalie's head far post to give Wesleyan the 1-0 advantage.

The Cardinals' offense cranked up even more scoring chances in the 2^nd half, as they put together 16 shots and three corners which resulted in two more Wesleyan goals. The first of which came in the 60^th minute when Soren Tollis '25 sent a through ball to Noah Hartzfeld '24 who sent a perfect cross off his left foot, which was then headed in by Phillip Cubeddu '23 for his first goal of the year.

After a relatively quiet next couple of minutes, Wesleyan added an insurance goal in the 77^th minute to secure the Cardinals victory. Lucas Ruehlemann '25, who was subbed in 30 seconds prior, received a pass from Ethan Barrett '24 and put the ball into a wide open net to serve as the exclamation point for another Cardinals' victory.

Liam Devanny '23 was impressive in goal once again for the Cardinals, saving all six shots sent his way. He completed his third clean sheet of the season and 14^th of his career.

Wesleyan returns to action Monday the 19^th against Clark University. The Cardinals look to stay undefeated, while Clark looks to improve on their 1-5 record. This will be the 30^th all-time meeting between these two schools, with Wesleyan holding a 20-6-3 mark against the Cougars.