The women's soccer team has three straight wins against its first opponent this season, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, including one in the 2007 semifinals of the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III New England Championships. Yet coach Denise Dallamora is making sure her team is not overconfident going into the season opener."We have to go into every game with the same mentality," Dallamora said. "We've got to step up and play hard and play our game. So we'll do some mental preparation [in practice]; we'll talk about the importance of our first win regionally, setting a mark. ... I'm sure [the team is] mentally ready for their first game."

Brandeis faces MIT in the season opener for the third straight season tonight at 7:30 p.m. The Judges hope to start off their season with a regional win that could be the first step toward reaching the NCAA Tournament after coming up short the last two years.

Last season, the Engineers finished the season with a record of 7-9-2, losing in the semifinals of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference tournament.

The season before, they made it all the way to the ECAC semifinals before losing to the Judges 1-0 on a goal by tournament MVP Tzlil Castel '08.

Brandeis, who finished last season 13-7-2, counters with a team coming off its second straight ECAC title and returning all but one of its main starters from last season. One of those returning starters, midfielder/defender Alanna Torre '12, thinks the continuity will help the team get off to a strong start this year.

"We were actually just talking about it on the bench, a few of us saying how we are going to be so strong because we played together and it's not just new people," Torre said.

Torre was one of 16 rookies on the squad last season. This year, she thinks her first game this season will be quite different.

"I was definitely a lot more comfortable with the other players [in practice this season]," Torre said. "I definitely wasn't as nervous as I was last year. It's just a more comfortable feeling."

When the Judges played against MIT last season, they got off to a quick start by defeating the Engineers 4-0. They scored two goals in the first half, the first by Torre in the 14th minute and the second by midfielder Sofia Vallone '11 in the 29th minute. Forward Tiffany Pacheco '11 and forward Izabella Miranda '12 added goals in the second half to put the game out of reach.

The game was the first of four straight shutouts the Judges had to start last season, led by goalie Hillary Rosenzweig '10, who started 20 of 22 games last year and finished with nine shutouts.

Brandeis returns all of its top goal scorers from last season, including Pacheco and forward Melissa Gorenkoff '10, who tied for the team lead with eight goals apiece.

MIT also returns its leading scorer from last season, sophomore forward Alisha Lussiez, who also tallied eight goals.

Brandeis will next host Nazareth College Sunday at 1 p.m.