After barely squeaking into the ECAC tournament with a .500 record and losses in two of its final three games, it would not be out of the question to assume that the Brandeis Womens Soccer team was destined for a quick exit from the postseason. However, in one of their best efforts of the season, the Judges upset the second seeded University of Southern Maine to advance to the tournaments semi-final round. After playing through ninety scoreless minutes during regulation and another twenty minutes of overtime, goaltender Betsy Medow (08) made two huge saves in the penalty kick shootout to propel Brandeis to victory. The final score was 5-4 after seven rounds of penalties, and with the win Brandeis, the tournaments seventh seed, moves on to play third seeded Clark University, which defeated Wentworth Institute of Technology by a 1-0 score.

The Lady Judges, who came into the game with an 8-8-1 record, outplayed USM for long stretches of time and finished the game with a decisive 20-7 edge in shots. However, Maine goaltender Mindy Morneault kept the game tied by making seven saves, including three in the second overtime period to send the game to penalties. After both Brandeis Lauren Gregor (06) and Maines Liz Brunton had their attempts stopped, Sarah Jasak (08) connected for the Judges. On the next shot, Kim Fraser (08) scored for Brandeis, and Medow was able to reject Maines Julia Cyr. However, USM tied the game in the next round, following a miss by Kalina Ehrenreich-Piot (08). The teams traded goals for two more rounds, before Meredith Milstein (09) scored for the Judges, putting USMs Kara Higgins in the pressure filled situation of needing a score to prolong her teams season. However, she could not beat Medow, and Brandeis emerged with the win. The Lady Judges semi-final match will take place on Saturday at Clarke University.

In other Womens Soccer news, Brandeis leading scorer Lauren Gregor was selected to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District soccer team for her performance during the 2005 regular season. Gregor netted ten goals on the year and added four assists for a total of twenty-four points. She currently has thirty-nine goals and ninety-six points for her career, and she will have the oppurtunity to add to that total on Saturday. Gregor was also named UAA player of the week three times during the course of her seasons at Brandeis, and will be graduating in the spring with a major in chemistry.