In 2011, the Brandeis women’s soccer team went 0-4 in 1-0 games and missed the postseason for the first time in eight years. Denise Dallamora’s squad foreshadowed the season to come when Dara Spital ’15 – a transfer from Division I Central Florida – scored the game-winning goal in the 53rd minute against MIT when her shot over the outstretched arms of the Engineer goalkeeper came from about 20 yards out.
The 1-0 win heralded a change in fortunes for the Judges from the previous season on two fronts: Spital would go on to score eight game-winning goals for the season and the Judges went 6-0 in games decided by a 1-0 score; and the shutout was one of a school-record 14 on the season for goalkeepers Francine Kofinas ’13 and Michelle Savuto ’15, after they had just three the previous season.