In the 28th minute of the women's soccer team's game against Bowdoin College last Wednesday, defender Ali Maresca '12, starting her first game since suffering an ankle injury in practice around 3 weeks ago, suffered a blood injury and by rule had to be temporarily removed from the game. She was replaced by rookie defender Kelly Peterson '14, who had started the previous five games in Maresca's place.Just 4 minutes later, the substitute made the biggest play of the game.

Peterson scored her first collegiate goal in the 32nd minute to give the Judges a 1-0 win over Bowdoin.

Brandeis' record for the season now stands at 11-3-1, 2-2 in the University Athletic Association.

"She's tenacious," coach Denise Dallamora said of Peterson. "She's a great ball winner. . She can send that ball a country mile."

Peterson headed the ball home off of a corner kick from fellow defender Taryn Martiniello '11. Martiniello was playing in front of one of her old coaches, Andrew Farrar, who coached her on the Spirit of Massachusetts club team for 3 years. Farrar's daughter, senior defender Katherine Farrar, plays for the Bowdoin Polar Bears.

The two teams played evenly in the first half, with Bowdoin attempting eight shots and Brandeis attempting seven. But the Judges outshot the Polar Bears 8-4 in the second half and had several chances to pull further ahead. Two of their best opportunities occurred in the 79th minute, when forward Tiffany Pacheco '11 had two shots on goal in a 43-second span. Bowdoin senior goalkeeper Kat Flaherty made a diving save on a Pacheco shot at the 78:14 mark and then blocked another shot by senior captain at the 78:57 mark.

With the one-goal lead, the Judges had to withstand a late charge by the Polar Bears, who had three shots and a corner kick in the last 6 minutes of the game.

"I think it was a little bit of fatigue, probably getting the ball pounded at you and pounded at you and just kicking it back, kicking it back," Dallamora said of the Judges' defensive struggles late in the game.

Two of these shots, along with the corner kick, came off the foot of Bowdoin junior forward Ellery Gould. Coming into the game, Gould led the team with 10 goals, seven more than the second-highest scorer on the team. She had also scored in seven straight games.

Dallamora said after the game she was aware of Gould's skill and made sure to keep her covered at all times. "We contemplated marking her out, putting a player on her for the whole game," Dallamora said. "But we didn't. ... We just shared the marking, basically, so wherever she went, someone would pick her up. . She's speedy; she's very talented. I wish she was graduating."

Gould had a team-high four shots for the game but only one shot on goal.

Earlier last week, the first NCAA regional rankings were released, and the Judges are ranked third in the New England region. The only two teams ranked higher are Eastern Connecticut State University and Williams College, ranked No. 11 and No. 12 in the latest National College Soccer Coaches Association of America/HendrickCars.com Division III poll, respectively.

The Judges are currently unranked in the NSCAA poll after being as high as No. 15 earlier this season. Brandeis received the most votes among non-ranked teams in the most recent poll. Brandeis also has wins over Roger Williams University and Springfield College, currently No. 7 and No. 8, respectively, in the New England region.

"We've never made it [to the NCAA Tournament] in our four years that [the seniors have] been here, so that's definitely a goal that we're trying to achieve," forward Sofia Vallone '11 said, adding, "I do know that we need to get back on the national rankings. We are still receiving votes for that, but being nationally ranked would definitely ensure a spot."

The Judges are next in action today at 4 p.m. against Lesley University in their last regular-season home game of the year. They then head out on a UAA road trip with matches against Washington University in St. Louis Friday at 6 p.m. and against the University of Chicago Sunday at noon.