Forward Melissa Gorenkoff '10 took three shots in first nine minutes of the women's soccer team's game at Gordon College Thursday, but none found the back of the net. Despite her misses, Gorenkoff never lost any confidence in her shot.

That persistence eventually paid off, as her fourth shot deflected off the far post into the net in the 15th minute. She followed it up with a second goal in the 48th minute to lead the women's soccer team to a 3-1 victory over the Fighting Scots.

"It's frustrating [to miss shots], but one of my coaches always says that you never really get goals if you don't shoot," she said. "You can take as many shots as you can, because one's always bound to go in, so that's what I do. You're never going to score if you don't shoot."

The Judges are now 5-1-1 following a 3-0 shutout of Wellesley College Tuesday, and have just one game remaining before opening their University Athletic Association schedule against the University of Rochester Saturday.

Gorenkoff's first goal Thursday jumpstarted the team against Gordon, a team that hadn't allowed a regulation goal in its first seven games.

"[The goal] just sparked us into realizing [that] we need to get going," coach Denise Dallamora said. "After that, we just charged."

The Judges took four more shots in the first half, including one from Gorenkoff that sailed wide, and entered halftime leading 1-0.

After the two teams exchanged shots early in the second half, Gorenkoff gave the Judges a 2-0 lead in the 49th minute with a goal from 25 yards away, her second of the game and fifth of the season

"[Defenders] can't get the ball from her," Dallamora said. "Even when she's double-teamed, she gets her way out of it. She has those long legs that just have huge reach, so they just have a hard time winning the ball from her."

Gordon cut the lead to 2-1 just 17 seconds later following a miscommunication in the Judges' defense.

Goalie Hillary Rosenzweig '10 appeared to be able to reach a bouncing ball in Brandeis' goalie box, but she lost the ball in the sun. Defender Abby Shields '10 tried to compensate, but after she hesitated, her clearance went right to Gordon freshman midfielder Kelly Donlan, who took advantage for her first goal of the season.

"[The goal was] a communication error and a physical error-a little bit of both, and we took a little setback ourselves," Dallamora said. "But we just kept moving and moving."

Gordon couldn't get the equalizer, and Brandeis tacked on some insurance in the 89th minute, when midfielder Tiffany Pacheco '11 found classmate Kelly Cozzens '11, who scored her second goal of the season.

"[Pacheco] just kept slotting some really nice balls, and one of them connected with [Cozzens]," Dallamora said.

Rosenzweig, who has allowed just two goals in her last four starts, collected six saves on the day to get her fifth victory of the season.

Tuesday's 3-0 win over Wellesley mirrored the game against Gordon.

In her first start since suffering a groin injury two weeks ago, Gorenkoff once again sparked the offense. Just like she did Thursday, she scored the first two goals of the game, and captain midfielder Amy King '08 tacked on insurance, scoring her first goal of the season in the final minute of the game.

The defensive trio of Taryn Martiniello '11, Abby Shields '10 and Ruth Orbach '11 also contributed significantly, holding Wellesley to just three shots in the game.

The Judges host Smith College in a rematch of last year's East College Athletic Conference semifinal Wednesday at 7 p.m. Smith defeated the Judges 2-0 in that match before going on to win the tournament.