Neither the torrential rain nor the leftover winds from Hurricane Noel prevented the women's soccer team's seniors from shining in their final regular-season contest last Saturday.Captain and midfielder Sarah Jasak '08 scored two goals, while forward Tzlil Castel '08 and defender Kalina Ehrenreich-Piot '08 each had an assist as the Judges defeated New York University 2-0 in its last regular-season contest.

"I was pumped anyway [despite the conditions] and I think that carried to the rest of the team," Jasak said.

The Judges, who finished the regular season 10-6-2 and 3-3-1 in the University Athletic Association, garnered the top seed in the Eastern College Athletic Conference, and will face eighth-seeded Emerson?College in the first round Wednesday at 4:30 p.m., the team's fifth consecutive ECAC tournament appearance. Last season, Brandeis defeated Rhode Island College 3-2 in the first round before falling 2-0 to Smith College in the semifinals.

The team's six seniors were the driving force behind last Saturday's victory, as they combined for 11 of the Judges' 17 shots, compared to just eight total shots for NYU.

NYU outshot Brandeis 3-0 in the first 17 minutes of the game before Castel and Jasak took consecutive shots that sailed wide. Just under five minutes later, Castel snuck a pass to Jasak, who took one dribble and fired a far-post shot past senior goalie Katie Barnes in the right side of the goal.

"I had plenty of time, so I just stayed composed and shot [at] the far post," Jasak said. "No one was on me."

Brandeis controlled the game offensively throughout the rest of the half, outshooting NYU 6-0, and had three shots on goal.

"We knew that with the bad weather today it would be harder for the goalkeeper to hold onto the ball," midfielder Lizzie Bremner '08 said.

"So we knew that it was a good strategy to take lots of shots, and even if it wasn't the perfect shot, hopefully there would be a deflection that we could come up and [score on]."

The Judges couldn't add to their one-goal lead in the first half but maintained momentum going into the second period.

With Brandeis still leading 1-0 in the 82nd minute, Ehrenreich-Piot, who had come off the bench less than a minute earlier, had a shot on goal that Barnes deflected to Jasak, who put in the rebound for her team-leading eighth score of the season.

"It was nice to know that we were up two goals and that we had that lead with 7 1/2 minutes left, so that even if they did score a goal, God forbid, then we would still be up," Rosenzweig said.

Following that goal, Barnes left with an ankle injury and was replaced by NYU junior Rebekah Kramer after saving six shots.

Rosenzweig had four saves, but came very close to missing out on her fourth shutout of the season. In the 88th minute, a shot by NYU rookie Laura Palumbo was nearly deflected off a Judges' defender for a goal, but Rosenzweig was there to take away one of the Violets' few scoring opportunities of the day.

"You always want to get a shutout," Rosenzweig said. "It's nice not to be scored on."

The defeat was the conclusion of a season-ending slump for the Violets, as they lost six of their last seven contests and finished just 1-5-1 in the UAA.

They had won nine of their 11 non-conference games, but their poor UAA finish relegated them to the ECAC Metropolitan tournament.

"[NYU] has a pretty good game, they just have some weak areas, and we kind of exploited their [weaknesses]," coach Denise Dallamora said. "With a little pressure, they gave up a lot of balls."

The Judges' seven seniors-Jasak, Castel, Bremner, Ehrenreich-Piot, reserve forward Nickey Guertin '08, and backup goalie Betsey Medow '08- were honored during a reception immediately following the game. Brandeis coaches presented each member of the group with flowers and memory books in honor of their careers.

"This senior class has so much heart," Dallamora said.

The Judges take on?Emerson College in the first round of the ECAC Tournament Wednesday. If Brandeis wins, they play in the semifinals Saturday afternoon. The finals are scheduled for Sunday afternoon.