WALTHAM, Mass. – Coming off their first defeat of the season, the Brandeis University women's soccer team bounced back tonight with a 1-0 victory over visiting Gordon College, handing the Fighting Scots their first loss of the season in the process. Brandeis, ranked No. 24 in the latest NSCAA Division III national poll, improves to 6-1 on the season, while Gordon's record falls to the same 6-1 mark.
The Judges got all the scoring they would need in the fifth minute. Sophomore Dara Spital (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep) scored her sixth goal of the season on a terrific individual effort. Starting her dribble just inside midfield, she turned past a defender, then launched a left-footed shot from 25-yards out over the outstretched arms of GC junior netminder Kari Christensen (Standish, Maine/Bonny Eagle). The goal was Spital's fourth game-winner of the season and snapped her two-game scoreless drought.
In a game that was started early and played under intermittent wind and rain to avoid even worse conditions later, Brandeis went on to outshoot Gordon, 25-5, but Christensen kept her squad in the game with 11 saves. She had two outstanding sequences late in the game. In the 80th minute, she stopped consecutive close-range shots from Judge sophomores Sapir Edalati (Great Neck, N.Y./Great Neck South) and Alec Spivack (Miami, Fla./Miami Palmetto Senior). Christensen also tipped a bending corner from Spivack in the 83rd minute over the crossbar.
Brandeis senior Francine Kofinas (Dix Hills, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills West) was not called on to make a save in the first half, while sophomore Michelle Savuto (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood) had three stops in the second half. Her best play came in the 78th minute against Fighting Scot sophomore Olivia Balloveras (Freeport, N.Y./Valley Stream Central), following a corner kick and a scramble in front of the net. The shutout was the sixth in seven games for the Judges.
Brandeis is back in action when they kick off a three-game road trip on Friday evening at Bates College at 6 p.m. Gordon takes on the University of New England Saturday at 5 p.m.