These women are untouchable. The Judges increased their number of shutouts to seven this week, defeating visiting Case Western Reserve 2-0 on Saturday and visiting Tufts University 3-0 last Tuesday. The Judges are 10-1 overall, 1-1 in the UAA Conference.The pace was quick in the beginning of the game on Saturday. The two teams were back and forth with the ball, trying to gain the upper hand until about 12 minutes in, when Lauren Gregor '05 laid out the Spartan goalie and scored her fifth goal of the season. The goal could not have been possible without a beautiful pass from Lizzie Bremner '08.

The Spartans stepped up to the challenge of defeating Brandeis, holding off the Judges for the majority of the game. But 49 minutes later, Lisa Kaplin '07 scored off a rebound from midfielder Amy King '08. It was Kaplin's team-leading ninth goal of the season, good for third in the UAA.

Of course, a team cannot win without a solid defense, and this was just what the Judges had. Kirsten Tracy '05 and Natasha Pieciak '06 combined efforts as goalies to solidify the seventh shutout for the Brandeis team this season. The defense was so solid that Tracy faced no shots on goal whatsoever for the first 20 minutes of the game. Pieciak finished the game out in the net, with four saves. The Judges also wore down the Spartans on the offensive side. Brandeis registered 21 shots with 13 on goal while the Spartans only had 12 shots, with four on goal.

"There was a lot of teamwork today," coach Denise Dallamora said. "We need to work on our finishing. We should have won by a lot more."

"We had a lot of communication in the field," Brittany Douglass '07 said. "We need to work on our shooting. We could have won this game five or six nothing."

This win was even sweeter coming off of the victory over Tufts last Tuesday. The Judges hosted the Jumbos having not beaten Tufts in seven tries, dating back to 1996. But the Judges were perfect defensively as usual on their way to a 3-0 win over Tufts.

"This was a big win," captain Melissa Gordon '05. "Tufts is one of our biggest rivals and after a tough loss to them last year it felt good to beat them this time around on our own turf."

A soccer match, like most other sports, can be made or broken by penalties, and the axiom remains true for soccer. The Judges took advantage of an early penalty against the Jumbos when Douglass scored on a free-kick 44 seconds into the game. With a swift foot she careened the ball deep down the field to Gregor, who beamed it directly across the mouth of the goal. Jessica Druckman '06 smacked it into the goal, securing her fourth goal of the season, and the first of the game. About 24 minutes later the Judges attacked again, when Kaplin sent it home to the goal after redirecting a throw-in from Melissa Gordon '07. This was not the end of the revenge doled out to the Jumbos. Gregor assisted another goal 84 minutes into the game when Tzlil Castel '08 scored on her only shot of the game.

The Judges are off for the week before embarking on a difficult two game road trip this weekend. Brandeis plays two UAA matches, first at the University of Chicago on Friday and then at Washington University of St. Louis on Sunday.