Last Sunday against William Paterson University, the women's soccer team could not score a goal in 110 minutes of play in a scoreless tie. But this past Saturday against Springfield College, it took the Judges less than 6 minutes to get on the scoreboard.Defender Ali Maresca '12 scored her second goal of the season just 5 minutes, 49 seconds into the game to put the Judges up 1-0. Brandeis would not trail the rest of the game en route to a 3-1 win. The Judges' record currently stands at 2-1-1, and they are ranked seventh in the New England region.

"[This win] meant a lot to the team," midfielder Mimi Theodore '12 said. "Coming off after losing at [Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Sept. 1] and tying William Paterson, we needed this win."

The win was the Judges' first over the Pride since 2004, although the two teams did not play in 2006. The two played to a 2-2 draw in 2005. In 2007, the Judges gave up the game-winning goal with just 1:30 left in regulation in a 2-1 loss. Two seasons ago, Brandeis also lost 2-1, this time in double overtime. The Pride scored the winning goal just over 4 minutes into the double overtime period on a header off a corner kick. The Judges and Pride then played to a scoreless tie last season.

Maresca's goal came off a corner kick from forward Tiffany Pacheco '11 into the net to score just her second career goal. Her first career goal came just last week against Babson College, also off a corner kick.

"Maresca is playing phenomenal," coach Denise Dallamora said. "Her first touch has improved. Obviously, her confidence has improved. Her strength has improved. She's just doing a great job."

In the past, defender Taryn Martiniello '11 had handled the corner kicking duties for the Judges. But so far this year, Pacheco and forward Sofia Vallone '11 have been executing some corner kicks as well.

"Taryn still does them [sometimes]; she got injured," Dallamora said. "We're also kind of working on an in-swinger, which just means it curves in toward the goal, and we want people who can do that."

The Judges scored their second goal of the first half off of a free kick in the 15th minute. After a penalty by the Pride, defender Francesca Shin '12 hit a free kick from around 35 yards out. Theodore, the team's leading scorer from last season, then headed Shin's ball into the net for her first goal of the season.

"We worked a lot on set plays [in practice this week]; just knowing where people had to be, what their roles were," Theodore said. "I think that we worked so much on the set plays. We were able to time things right [and] be in the right places, and things ended up going our way."

The Judges were up at halftime 2-0, but the Pride quickly closed the gap in the second half. Senior forward Erica Donnelly tapped in a corner kick from junior forward Katie Mantie less than 4 minutes into the second half to pull the Pride within one goal.

But later in the half, the Judges were able to take back the momentum for good. Springfield sophomore goalkeeper Erin Greenstein came out of the net to try to possess a ball.

Vallone beat her to the ball and fired it past Greenstein into the net. The goal was Vallone's team-leading third in just four games.

"[Springfield] ran hard [early in the second half]," Dallamora said. "They were just running; they wanted it more. Initially, they were just running hard to the ball. We were a little bit flat-footed. . I think once we scored the third goal, they got a little deflated."

The game was physical on both sides, with the two teams combining for 33 fouls, 20 of which were in the second half.

"We got a little physical back, so that helped," Dallamora said regarding how her team dealt with Springfield's physicality. "We tried to play the ball on the ground so we weren't battling them in the air, because they were pretty big."

The team next plays this afternoon at Bridgewater State University at 4 p.m., before returning home to face Roger Williams University Thursday at 4 p.m.