WALTHAM, Mass. — The Brandeis University women's soccer team played a tight contest with the top-ranked team in Division III, Washington University, for the first 78 minutes, but the Bears scored a pair of goals in a 68-second span to blow open a one-goal game and take a 3-0 decision in University Athletic Association action tonight. With the win, the Judges fall to 9-6-1 overall, 1-3-1 in the UAA. Bears improve to 15-1, 5-0 in the UAA.

      In the first half, the shots were close, with WashU owning an 8-6 advantage, although they had a 3-0 edge in corner kicks. Ten of the 11 fouls called in the first half were whistled against the visitors, allowing Brandeis two of their early attempts on long free kicks. Brandeis junior keeper Michelle Savuto (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood) made a pair of early saves in the first 11 minutes, while Washington keeper Amy French stopped Brandeis's Jessica Morana (Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury) and Sara Isaacson (Medfield, Mass./Medfield) in the middle stages of the contest.

      Shortly after earning two of their three corner kicks, the Bears finally broke through in the 42^nd minute. Washington's Lillie Toaspern was on the receiving end of a Tessa Klumpp throw-in. Toaspern dribbled into the box and sent a ball across the goal mouth into the right netting for her eighth tally of the season.

      The Bears controlled play for much of the second half, but the Judges had a shot to equalize in the 73^rd minute. Sophomore forward Holly Szafran (Newton, Mass./Newton North) intercepted a WashU clearance attempt and drove towards the net. She beat one defender and struck a high, arcing ball that sailed just over the crossbar.

      Washington finally capitalized on their pressure in the 79^th and 80^th minutes. Senior Becky Berels took a defensive turnover and blasted a ball a couple of yards outside the right of the box into the left netting at 78:08 for her fifth of the season. At 79:16, a Kate Doyle free kick from about 30 yards out floated over Savuto into the upper right corner for the final goal of the game, Doyle's sixth of the campaign. French made one last save on the Judges' Corinne Bortniker (Chappaqua, N.Y./Horace Greely) in the 84^th minute to preserve the shutout, the Bears' 12^th of the season. She had four saves on the night to three for Savuto.

      Brandeis returns to action on Sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. when they take on the University of Chicago. Washington plays at NYU at the same time.