After two heartbreaking losses in overtime against opponents they arguably could have beaten, the Brandeis womens soccer had had enough and took it out on the hapless Simmons Sharks for a 3-1 victory. It was a game that was not as close as the final score turned out to be.

We knew probably 5 minutes or 10 minutes into the game we were the stronger team and thats kind of the motivation, I mean weve lost to teams that were probably better than and you dont want to do that a third time, Lisa Kaplin 07 explained.

The scoring was started by midfielder Amy King 08 who broke behind the defense and managed to convert a feed from rookie Melissa Gorinkoff 10 into a 1-0 lead. It was Kings 8th career goal. The score would remain that way in the first half despite 15 first half shots by Brandeis. In the second half, Simmons pulled its goalie, replacing starter Katie Taglieri 08 with rookie Rachel Elliott 10, who had started the game as a mid-fielder. Elliot was tested early, stopping a penalty kick by Kaplin, but Brandeiss leading scorer would not be denied. Thanks to a nice pass by Lizzie Bremmer 08, Kaplin managed to break away from the Simmons defense and neatly put the ball past Elliot for the game-winning 2-0 tally. For Kaplan, the goal was especially rewarding after having been thwarted many times that night.

I was still a little frustrated afterwards because I must have taken about 5-10 shots within the last 10 minutes before that. I missed a PK which is always a struggle and it doesnt happen a lot, wasnt even my penalty kick but it was a good feeling. I felt it was needed because I was due.

This was Kaplans third consecutive game with a goal, giving her 29 career tallies and tying her for fifth on the Brandeis all-time list. Barely four minutes later, Sarah Jasak 08 banged home a rebound on a corner kick to give Brandeis a 3-0 lead. Simmons managed to convert on a Brandeis miscue in the 75th minute with a rocket that goalkeeper Hillary Rosenzweig 10 was unable to stop. It would merely be a last gasp for Simmons and the game ended like that, 3-1.

With Simmons having massive difficulty getting the ball out of its zone, Brandeis outshot the Sharks 29-3 with 6 corner kicks compared to none for Simmons. Amber Debole 09, making her first start this season, didnt face any challenges with one shot and no saves in her half of play. Rosenzweig had one save for one half of work. Simmons's starter Taglieri had 9 saves in the first half and Elliot had 5 for the second. Afterwards, Kaplin explained how a structured and ready attack helped snap the skid for the Judges.

I actually think each of our lines, defense, mid-fielders, forwards, we all just kind starting playing together a lot more, mid-fielders worked with the forwards more. I think that the offense line worked together, I think that helped us a lot to get goals. I think up top, we really pressured their defense more, we used their weaknesses as our strength and that just made us capitalize… Instead of playing kick and run most of the time, we really got passes together more, we found each other easier, we just overall played a better attacking game.

The win gives Brandeis a 1-2-0 record;

their weekend match against Springfield was cancelled due to lightning. Brandeis goes off to Worcester on Saturday to take on Clark at 2:30 p.m., a veritable grudge match as Clark ended Brandeiss season in the ECAC playoffs last year. They will be a tough opponent, one that Kaplin looks forward to facing. I think against Clark, they are probably going to come out strong…. Its always a good competition. We just have to go in with how we played all of this game and well come out strong and we should beat them.

After Clark, Brandeis goes on the road again Tuesday night against Wellesley at 7 p.m.