The No. 11 women’s soccer team closed out its regular season with its 12th shutout of the year, topping New York University 1-0 on Gordon Field last Saturday. 

The Judges move to 14-2-3 on the year and finish the University Athletic Association campaign tied for fifth place with a 3-2-2 conference record. The Judges earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament, beginning on Saturday afternoon.

"This week of practices is really important for this upcoming weekend," said midfielder Holly Szafran ’16. "We have to stay focused all week and train the hardest we have this year. We all know NCAAs is one-and-done, so we need to come out strong and stay strong throughout the tournament. Every team in the NCAA’s is going to be tough, so we have to treat every game like its the deciding game, because it actually is."

Judges 1, NYU 0

The hosts controlled most of the play during the first half of Saturday's contest, taking three of the game’s first five shots over the opening 20 minutes. Though the Judges managed to put just one of those three shots on net, they were able to earn a pair of corner kicks to keep the pressure on NYU’s defense.

In the 36th minute the Judges got the only offense they would need, as forward Lea McDaniel ’17 turned a fantastic individual effort into her team-leading sixth goal of the year. McDaniel collected a throw-in well within the attacking third of the field and volleyed a pass to herself from the top of the 18-yard-box to the far post of the net. 

The individual effort caught NYU junior goalkeeper Cassie Steinberg off guard and Steinberg was forced to pick the ball out of the back of her own net.

Following the goal, the Judges leaned on their 17th-ranked defense in Division III — which gave up an average of .427 goals per game entering the contest — to hold the Violets without a shot on net for the rest of the game. 

The Judges, meanwhile, totaled eight shots in the first half and 13 overall, putting four on net and forcing Steinberg into a number of athletic saves.

"We did struggle a couple times throughout the season on finishing, so this week we really need to stay focused din practice, because all of our pattern plays will lead to goals," said Szafran. "We all know how to score goals, tis just whether we can formulate the right attacking mindset to finish, so we need to stay extra focused and know that we won’t win unless we score."

Brandeis set a new regular season record with its 12th shutout of the season, ending the regular season having let up just eight goals all year, including a stretch of seven straight clean score sheets in September. 

After the Judges got the goal they needed from McDaniel a late push by NYU almost tied the game. With time winding down, NYU had one final chance to send the game to overtime, but NYU freshman forward Megan Carver sent the ball high of the net in the 88th minute to seal the game.

Goalkeeper Alexis Grossman ’17 stopped the one shot she faced to secure her eighth shutout of the year and lowered her personal goals-against-average to 0.35 for the year, letting in just six goals in more than 1500 minutes played, en route to a 12-2-3 record this year. 

The Judges found out on Monday that their season will continue against Western Connecticut State University in the first round of the tournament. 

This will mark the first time in school history that the team will be making consecutive appearances in the tournament.

"The key this year for a deep postseason run is just making sure that the whole team is on the same page all the time throughout the tournament," Szafran said. "We all know we have an incredibly talented team, and we each challenge each other every day in practice, so we need to keep that mentality because when we play against all tough teams, how much heart and effort is going to win the games. We all need to want it to succeed this year. Based off the mentality going into the postseason, I think we are going to have a great run this year and I’m so excited."