The women’s soccer team went 2-0 this past week to extend their winning streak to seven games to begin the season. 

The Judges, ranked no. 15 in the nation by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, defeated Lesley University 1-0 on Saturday and Wheaton College 2-0 last Thursday to improve to 7-0 overall on the year. 

It is the Judges’ best start since 2004, when they went 8-0, and is only two wins shy of the team record of 9-0, set by the 2003 team. 

Judges 1, Lesley 0

Brandeis scored the lone goal in the 25th minute when midfielder Haliana Burhans ’18 scored off a cross from forward Julia McDermott ’17. 

Burhans sent the cross into the lower left corner of the goal for her first career game-winner and her third goal in four games. 

Burhans is building off a promising first season in which she did not score but assisted on two goals.

At the end of the first half, the Judges had eight shots, compared to zero shots for Lesley. 

For the game, Brandeis had 15 shots, six of which were on goal, and took 11 corner kicks. They limited the Lynx to two shots, none of which were on goal, and just one corner kick. 

The best scoring opportunity for Lesley came on that corner kick, but a header from Lesley sophomore Samantha Turnbull sailed wide left, leaving Brandeis goalkeeper Alexis Grossman’s ’17 shutout intact. 

It was Grossman’s fourth shutout in a row.

Last season, Grossman did not record a shutout in her four starts.

Judges 2, Wheaton 0

On Thursday, Brandeis defeated  previously undefeated Wheaton by taking an early lead and scoring a late insurance goal. 

Wheaton entered the game having only given up one goal in five games this season. 

The Judges scored just seven minutes into the game when midfielder Alec Spivack ’15 passed the ball to midfielder Holly Szafran ’16 who sent the ball to the left corner of the goal. 

Spivack said in an email to the Justice that part of her game plan against Wheaton was to expose their weak side. 

“Going in to the game we discussed opportunities to expose Wheaton. We found that their weak side is susceptible to a quick switch, so going into the game every time I received the ball my first thought was to find the weak side,” Spivack said. 

“When I checked back in to the midfield to get the ball, Holly saw the open space I created behind me and she took off with great pace. When I faced up I saw that she was making the run so I played the ball over the top to beat the defenders and land in front of Holly. She took a really great composed touch and placed the ball in the net!”

Brandeis scored again in the 88th minute when, on a counter-attack, Burhans dribbled around the goalkeeper into the center from the left side of the field and scored in the open net. 

The Judges had 23 shots, 11 of which were on goal, while Wheaton had nine shots, four of which were on goal.

Though the team has experienced historic success to begin their season, Spivack said the players are trying to stay level-headed. 

“Honestly, none of us realized how incredible our start has been this season,” Spivack said. “We are taking it game by game and we don't focus on rankings or outcomes, instead we focus on improving every game and loving every second.  It's only September, so it's still very early but if we can keep exposing our opponents and enjoying soccer then I can see us continuing to be successful!”

The team has now scored an impressive 17 goals in the first seven games of the season.

The 2.4 goals per game average is an upgrade of the 1.6 the team recorded last season.

It has allowed three goals on the year, all of which came in the first three contests against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lasell College and Bridgewater State University.

The team has recorded four shutouts in its last four contests, against Regis College, the University of Massachusetts of Boston, Wheaton and Lesley.

While the Judges had a solid 2014 to 2015 season, they are looking for much improvement in the ensuing campaign that will hopefully end in hardware.

They finished the year with a final record of 13-5-2 in overall play, while struggling in conference matches for the year.

The team only went 2-3-2 in University Athletic Association conference play.

It only has three games until conference play begins with a matchup with Carnegie Mellon University on Oct. 3.

The Judges start a five-game homestand Tuesday when they play Babson College at 3 p.m.

After the Babson contest, they will be up against Tufts University on Saturday and Wellesley College  next Tuesday evening.