WALTHAM, Mass. – A pair of newcomers, sophomore transfer Dara Spital (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep) and Holly Szafran (Newton, Mass./Newton North), both scored one goal in each half to lead the Brandeis University women's soccer team past visiting Roger Williams University, 4-0, on Gordon Field tonight. With the win, the Judges, ranked No. 5 in New England, improve to 3-0, while the Hawks, ranked ninth, fall to 0-1-1.
Spital gave the Judges all the scoring they would need in the 13th minute. She tracked down a ball along the end line, made a nifty move to keep the ball in bounds and evade a defender and fired a laser shot into the far-right netting. It was her second goal of the season, both of which have been game-winners.
Szafran doubled the score 12 minutes later in the 24th minute. A corner kick off the foot of junior Kelly Peterson (Houston, Texas/Clear Lake) made its way through the box onto the head of Szafran, who put it home for her second tally of the campaign. RWU put two of their three shots on goal in the first half, but a fine diving save from senior Francine Kofinas (Dix Hills, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills West) on the Hawks' Jessica Reade (No. Yarmouth, Maine/Greely) in the 43rd minute preserved the shutout.
In the second half, Spital added goal number three of the game and of her season just 64 seconds in, corralling a loose ball and sending it home. Szafran was the beneficiary of an assist by classmate Sara Isaacson (Medfield, Mass./Medfield) in the 55th minute, blasting home a strike into the far left corner from just outside the 18-yard box.
Brandeis finished the game outshooting RWU, 14-7, including 8-4 in shots on goal. Sophomore Michelle Savuto (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood) made two saves in the second half to keep the Judges' shutout streak at 270 minutes, while Hawk junior Stephanie Jacques (Burlington, Vt./Burlington) had four stops in the losing effort.
Brandeis returns to action on Saturday afternoon, when they host 23rd-ranked Springfield College at 12:30 p.m., while Roger Williams is at Keene State the same day at 3:30 p.m.
Images from this contest will be available at http://www.sportspix.biz a few days after the match.