It was a tale of two games for the women's soccer squad.

The Judges displayed two entirely different strategies in their first two games of the NCAA Division III Tournament. However, after a whirlwind weekend, the Judges are headed to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in the program's history. After the Judges secured a tense 2-1 overtime victory over No. 22 Union College in the first round, the women cruised to a 3-0 shutout over Lasell College in the second round of the tournament. The pair of games, both played on Hitchcock Field in Amherst, Mass., pushed the Judges' season record to 15-4-2.

The Judges, after securing an upset victory against Union on Saturday, squared off once more against local rival Lasell. The Judges last played Lasell to a 3-1 win at home at Gordon Field on Oct. 23. Lasell, much like Brandeis, upset a nationally ranked opponent by defeating host Amherst College 3-1.
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The Judges knew they could not underestimate Lasell, though, even after a home victory earlier in the season.
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"Yes, we have seen Lasell and we came out on top, however they knocked out nationally ranked Amherst, who is a very skilled team, so we are not taking them lightly," said Zoe Siegel '13 before the clash with the Lasers. "We will do as we always do, show up to the field ready to play and put every ounce of effort into tomorrow's match."
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The Judges showed up to play Sunday and wasted little time in establishing an offensive rhythm over Lasell. After struggling to find consistency in the first 10 minutes, forward Dara Spital '15 sent a cross in the 13th minute deep into the Lasell box to forward Sapir Edalati '15. Edalati, who slipped behind the Lasell defense, beat senior goalkeeper Ashley Parrelli and chipped the ball into the bottom-left corner, giving the Judges the early 1-0 lead.
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Edalati, whose goal proved to be the game winner, was not only proud of her own goal but admired the play of her teammates as well.
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"Brandeis women's soccer has worked so hard for this and this is the first time we have ever made it this far in the NCAA Tournament," she said. "Scoring the game-winning goal felt unbelievable. It was a team effort and we are all so proud of each other."
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Spital, who at times single handedly dominated possession of the ball, nearly doubled the Judges' lead in the 29th minute, but Parrelli saved her shot. The Judges dominated for the remainder of the half, taking an additional three shots.

The Judges' continued their strong play in the second half as midfielder Sara Isaacson '16 made a run down the right side and fed a cross to midfielder Madeline Stein '14. Stein received the ball and settled before blasting a low shot into the right corner to give the Judges a 2-0 lead in the 49th minute. The Judges continued to push forward with a corner kick in the 60th minute. They converted the corner as defender Haley Schachter '16 headed in her second goal of the tournament to hand the Judges a 3-0 lead-and the victory.
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The Judges, though, began their NCAA run with an upset victory over Union. Brandeis jumped out to an early lead in the third minute following a deflection by Union senior goalie Kayla Marti. Her deflection, however, bounced right back to Schachter who converted the rebound to give Brandeis an early 1-0 advantage.
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Union, however, found a response 20 minutes later as senior forward Jennifer Mansfield converted a cross and put it past Judges' goalkeeper Francine Kofinas '13 to even the score at 1-1. From there, Union controlled possession of the ball for the rest of the half, but could not convert on any of their opportunities. The Judges came close to winning in regulation, but a diving Marti saved a strike from Spital in the 88th minute.
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The Judges needed just two minutes of the overtime period to pull off the upset. Isaacson collected a bouncing ball near the top of the box and fired a shot that beat Marti from nearly 20 yards away. The goal sent the entire team into euphoria, but no one was more ecstatic than Isaacson.
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"We were so pumped up for game there was no way we were going home losing," she said. "I'm not exactly the big goal scorer on the team, so it was nice to save my goal for a huge game like this!"
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With the two sectional victories, the Judges will advance to the Sweet Sixteen to take on the State Univerity of New York College at Cortland this Saturday.
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"We all believe in this team and we all have high expectations in this tournament," said Siegel. "No one wants this game to be our last."