It has been 326 minutes, or roughly 3 1/2 games, since the men's soccer team has scored a goal in a University Athletic Association contest. The Judges' offensive deficiencies contributed to a pair of shutout losses at home this past weekend-2-0 to Washington University in St. Louis Sunday and 1-0 to the University of Chicago Friday. Brandeis is now 6-6-2 on the season and 0-4 in UAA play.

"One thing [the team] has never done is quit; they've played very hard, but at the end of the day, 0-4 speaks for itself," assistant coach Gabe Margolis said.

The team's problem has been finishing opportunities rather than starting them. With 23 combined shots in the two games this weekend, the Judges had plenty of chances to score, but no shot has found the back of the net. Margolis said the team continually lacks composure in the opposition's third of the field.

The Bears got on the board in the 29th minute in Sunday's loss to WashU. Junior forward Eric Hill used his chest to maintain possession and then passed to substitute junior midfielder Kellen Hayes, who scored from seven yards out.

WashU then put the game away in the 51st minute when sophomore defender Nat Zenner blasted a shot from 20 yards into the left side of the net.

"The first goal was a mental lapse, but that second goal you just have to give [credit] to WashU; it was a beautiful shot," goalie Taylor Bracken '10 said. "No goalie in the world could save that [shot], unless they were standing right there in front of it."

The score could have been even more lopsided. WashU had a third goal in the 77th minute erased by an offsides penalty, and saw shots ricochet off the crossbar in the 57th and 82nd minutes.

The Judges were outshot 22-10, including 12-2 in the first half. This is the fourth time they have been shut out this season, three coming in UAA play.

Despite the team's struggles, WashU coach Joe Clarke said after the game that he was impressed with Brandeis' effort.

"Of the four teams in the league that we've played, Brandeis is the best passing team," he said. "Brandeis is a good soccer team. I'm happy to be done with them; they can beat any team in the league."

The Judges were much more aggressive in their game against Chicago Friday night, outshooting the Maroons 13-9, but they never escaped from an early hole, losing 1-0.

Chicago scored the game's only goal in the 38th minute, when freshman forward Alex Clifford received a pass down the sideline, dribbled past the Brandeis defense and connected for his sixth goal of the season.

Following that goal, the Judges squandered many opportunities to tie the game, their best chance coming in the final minute of the first half. Forward Ben Premo's '09 header attempt off rookie midfielder Stephen Kostel's '11 throw-in was blocked by a defender, and midfielder Kevin Murphy '09 recovered to attempt one more shot that landed in the hands of freshman goalie Steven Baron at the buzzer.

"You saw a very good soccer team tonight," coach Mike Coven said after the Chicago game. "This was a game we should have won. We dominated play, we dominated time of possession, we controlled the middle of the field and created opportunities, but [we] didn't finish up."

This weekend's two losses negated strong defensive play from Bracken and defenders Brett Fitzgerald '08, Joe Levitan '08 and David Weinstein '08. The Judges' defense kept them competitive in both contests, and Bracken had a combined 15 saves in the two games, 11 coming against WashU Sunday.

"The three backs have had a lot of pressure on them, but I think we've held solid," Levitan said. "The ball is always being shoved down our throats. You can't expect to win when you don't score."

The Judges take a break from conference play this week, with games at Springfield College Wednesday at 7 p.m. and at home against Worcester Polytechnic Institute Sunday at 1 p.m.