In the final minute of regulation during Saturday's game at Clark University, the men's soccer team was in position to deliver a dramatic victory with two shots on goal in a span of five seconds. But Cougars' junior goalie Peter Wise saved both shots, by midfielders Evan Duval '08 and Corey Bradley '10, to preserve a 1-1 tie.

"It was unbelievable," coach Mike Coven said. "I thought the game was over; that was our opportunity to win."

Two overtime periods yielded no scoring and the Judges were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw. Brandeis' record now stands at 1-1-2 after a 3-1 victory over Babson College Tuesday and a 3-1 loss to the Wentworth Institute of Technology Thursday.

With the score tied at one in the 90th minute, forward Ben Premo '09 dribbled past his defender and fed Duval in front of the net. Duval fired, but Wise reacted quickly to make the save.

"I thought my [shot] was heading in," Duval said. "I thought it would head for the [side of the net]. The goalie was well positioned in net [and] made a great reflex save."

Corey Bradley tracked down the rebound and attempted a shot of his own, but Wise once again came through with the stop.

"It was a picture-perfect play," Coven said. "The goalkeeper just made a terrific save."

Brandeis dictated the tempo for the first 35 minutes of play, as Clark failed to muster a single shot on net. Premo got the Judges on the board in the 25th minute, scoring on a rebound of midfielder Alex Mithoefer's '08 missed shot for his second goal of the season.

"It was pretty simple; [Alex] did most of the work," Premo said of his goal.

But the Cougars capitalized on their first scoring opportunity of the game in the 37th minute, as senior defender Lino Goncalves passed downfield to junior midfielder Marc Labbe, who scored on an empty net.

"It was a game we probably should have won 1-0," Coven said. "We had five or six freshmen [in there] at that point. We made a couple of mistakes and gave up a cheap goal."

Clark came out noticeably more aggressive in the second half-Coven said the Cougars had the Judges "on their heels" for the first 20 minutes after the break-but neither team was able to score. Both teams got off two shots in overtime, and goalie Taylor Bracken '10 made his only save of the game in the 104th minute during the second overtime to preserve the tie.

Despite the one defensive breakdown, Coven said he was impressed with the play of defenders David Weinstein '08, Brett Fitzgerald '08 and Joe Levitan '08.

"Our three backs have been magnificent, he said. "They are, day in and day out, our best players. They don't make mistakes. They're the best we've had [at this position] in a number of years."

Brandeis split its other two games last week, topping Babson 3-1 last Tuesday before falling to Wentworth Institute of Technology 3-1 Thursday.

"Babson and Wentworth were like night and day," Premo said. "[Against] Babson we played almost as good as we could play and [against] Wentworth we played almost as bad as we could play."

Coven cited communication problems in the team's defense in the loss to Wentworth, saying the three goals allowed by the Judges should have been "routine saves."

In the victory over Babson, Tyler Morrill '10, Mithoefer and Bradley scored the three goals and Bracken made five saves in net.

Coven said he was disappointed in the team's play during the first week of the season.

"We haven't even gotten into our [University Athletic Association] schedule and the UAA teams are probably a lot stronger than the New England teams," he said. "We're not winning here; we've got to clean it up and start playing better."

The Judges play next at home Tuesday against the Worcester Polytechnic Institute at 7 p.m.