There has been much news from the Brandeis women's soccer front since the Justice last reported the team's win over Wellesley College on Sept. 23 that maintained the squad's perfect record.On Sept. 30, the Judges took to the home turf and defeated Westfield State College 3-0.

Midfielder Jillian Peo '06 had her first multi-goal game of the season. She began the scoring by taking a corner kick from tri-captain Melissa DeLowe '04 and heading it in for the Judges' first goal in the 30th minute of the game. In the 57th minute, DeLowe redirected a crossing pass from forward Lisa Kaplin '07 to convert the Judges' second goal of the game.

Peo added an insurance tally in he 63rd minute for her second goal of the game.

On Oct. 4, the Judges enjoyed another strong performance, as they took to the field in their UAA season-opener against the University of Rochester. Melissa Gordon '06 opened the scoring with a goal in the 16th minute.

The next Brandeis goal came from Lauren Gregor '06, who notched her eigth goal of the season on a clutch penalty kick. Kaplin, Brandeis' stellar first-year performer, earned her first career goal 6:39 into the overtime period off an assist from Brittany Douglass '07. Natasha Pieciak '06 made eight key saves for the Judges in net.

For Rochester and their head coach Terry Gurnett, the loss to Brandeis was sandwiched between a 3-0 win over the Rochester Institute of Technology and a 1-0 victory over another UAA foe, New York University.

The win improved the Judges' record to 9-0, extending what was to that point the second-longest winning streak in school history. The only longer winning streak that the Judges had recorded came during the 1985 season when they posted ten consecutive victories. Brandeis hadn't defeated Rochester since 1990.

Thanks to the Rochester triumph, Denise Dallamora's Judges earned their first national ranking since 1990 when they were slotted 13th in the NSCAA national poll.

Personal accomplishments abounded for the Judges, as Natasha Pieciak was named UAA defensive player of the week for her prowess in net, and DeLowe padded impressive statistics that include ten goals and five assists for 25 points (good for 21st in Divison III and 24th in terms of goals per game with 1.29 goals a contest).

"The team work this year is unbelievable, Micah Hahn '06 said. "Each person is an intricate part of the team and no single player can make or break a game for us."

"We ve been putting a lot of hard work and it s shown in our winning record," goalkeeper Kristin Tracy '06 added.

The Judges, however, were unable to stay perfect against the Tufts University Jumbos, falling 5-2 on Oct. 8 in Medford.

DeLowe helped the Judges temporarily recover from a 1-0 deficit when she scored on a corner kick to tie the game, but Tufts responded with two more goals of their own.

Kaplin booted in a goal to draw Brandeis within one at 3-2, but tha would be the closest the Judges would get as Tufts added two more goals to give them a solid three-goal cushion.



The five goals surrendered against the Jumbos matched the total that Brandeis had given up in their previous nine games. Piecak made five stops and Mari Levine '06 recorded four saves for the Judges.

Junior Jen Baldwin scored two goals and had one assist for the host Jumbos.

In the Judges next contest against Case Western Reserve University, they bounced back from the Tufts disappointment and defeated their UAA rival 2-0 on the road.

The Judges got all the scoring that would be necessary in the 14th minute when midfielder Jessica Druckman '06 recorded her second goal of the season. The Judges outshot the host Spartans 10-2 in the first period, but were only able to score a single goal. The Judges added an insurance goal late in the second half when midfielder Skylar Buchanan '05 knocked in a free kick at the 82:55 mark,

The victory against Case Western improved the Judges' record to a stellar 10-1 for only the second time in team history, the other time being 1985.

"The fact that we're still undefeated in the UAA is a big accomplishment," tri-captain Julie Golomb said. "We probably play in the toughest Divison III conference in the country.