Powerful winds and foreign turf proved to be two of the toughest obstacles the women's soccer team managed to overcome on Saturday in their 4-3 defeat of UAA rivals NYU. The Judges closed out their season at 14-4 overall and 3-4 in the UAA.The Violets' field is located in the public Riverbank State Park, which accounts for the excessive use of the turf. It is also elevated and lacks any sort of barrier from the winds, which were exceptionally strong on Saturday.

"It was the windiest game I have ever played in or coached," Coach Denise Dallamora said. "The turf is very worn because it is used 24 hours a day, which makes it very slippery."

Brandeis, ranked the 23rd best team in Division III, took advantage of the wind in the first half. The Judges hammered the Violets with three goals, the first coming 19 minutes in off the foot of midfielder Jillian Peo '06. Peo's fourth score of the season resulted from an assist by Lauren Gregor '06, who then tallied her own goal 10 minutes later on a line drive from 20 yards out that just skimmed the bottom of the crossbar, putting the Judges ahead 2-0. Gregor leads the team in points with 11 goals and six assists.

Sarah Jasek '08 scored in her second consecutive game with only seconds left before halftime on a pass from Jessica Druckman '06 to give the Judges a three goal lead entering intermission.

In the second-half it was NYU's turn to let the wind play to its advantage. The Violets kicked off the half with two quick goals within six minutes of each other. The first resulted from a misplayed Brandeis goal kick, which boomeranged back towards the goal after encountering the wind head-on. The next two were off of indirect kicks right outside the Judges' goal box. Brandeis goalkeeper Natasha Pieciak '06 experienced some difficulty judging shots that were redirected by the wind.

"Natasha played very well in goal, especially under the tricky circumstances," co-captain Melissa Gordon '05 said. "It was so windy that we had to hold the ball for the kickers so that it wouldn't roll away."

Lisa Kaplin '07 was able to break up the Violets' scoring and seal the deal for the Judges halfway through the second half with an unassisted breakaway goal. It was Kaplin's team leading 12th goal of the season.

"It was a very physical game," Druckman said. "It was nice to finish out the season with a win."

The Judges played in a very effective 3-4-3 formation, which had to be adjusted because of the wind's ability to carry the ball over the defenders' heads from as far as 20 yards out.

"The defense played extremely well, especially [Gordon]," Dallamora said. "She had some very strong tackles in the backfield. Overall, we played very well and were able to possess the ball well and support each other."

Despite finishing with a losing conference record, the Judges earned the second seed in the East Coast Athletic Colleges tournament on the strenght of their schedule. The team will host seventh seeded Worcester Polytechnic Institute tomorrow at 1:30 p.m.

"We need to communicate, we need to score some goals," Dallamora said. "You can't take any competition lightly."

The Engineers are 10-7-2, but are coming off a two-game-losing streak.