When University of Rochester sophomore midfielder Timmy McCarthy's shot in the seventh minute of overtime against the men's soccer team Saturday deflected off the post, it appeared the Judges had withstood yet another offensive barrage by the Yellowjackets. Instead, it was merely a prelude to another crushing overtime defeat at home.Yellowjackets senior defender Bobby Milenovici controlled the rebound and connected for the game-winning goal on the shot, Rochester's 12th since halftime, sending the Judges to a 2-1 defeat in their University Athletic Association opener.

Brandeis is now 3-3-2 on the season, following a 3-2 overtime victory over Bridgewater State College Wednesday. A game against Colby-Sawyer College Monday ended too late for this edition.

Saturday's loss was the second consecutive home game that ended on a sudden-death goal in overtime for the Judges. They lost to Wheaton College 1-0 in similar fashion Sept. 19.

"We're not catching our breaks," goalie Taylor Bracken '10 said. "When you go into overtime, it's all about who gets lucky."

Following the game-winning goal by Milenovici-his first since his rookie season in 2004-Rochester players mobbed him just a few feet to the left of the Brandeis bench.

"We're trained to follow shots and get rebounds," Milenovici said. "I hit it as hard as I could. It was a typical UAA game; very tense."

Rochester got on the board early, benefiting from a fortunate bounce to take a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute. Yellowjackets senior defender Nick Mikolenko's corner kick deflected off Judges' rookie defender Nick Howard's '11 leg into the goal.

"I knew it was my fault, [but] I didn't feel like I could do much [to stop it]," Howard said. "I was afraid I was going to be the reason the team went into a slump, [but] I had to justify it with [the fact that] it could have happened to anyone, and move on."

With the Judges struggling, coach Mike Coven juggled his lineup with six substitutions between the 34th and 37th minutes.

One of the substitutions, midfielder Alex Mithoefer '09, took advantage of a Rochester miscue to tie the game at one in the 41st minute.

The Yellowjackets attempted to head the ball back to goalie Michael Peacock '10, but Mithoefer intercepted the pass on the right side and scored from 12 yards out.

The Yellowjackets took control offensively in the second half, outshooting the Judges 12-2.

Bracken saved two more Rochester shots early in the extra period, but after McCarthy's shot hit the post in the 97th minute, Bracken wasn't able to reach Milenovici's rebound.

Despite the Judges' tough loss, Coven remained positive after the game.

"It hurts to lose a game like this, [but] it proves we can play even with the best teams around," he said. "[In] both of the [overtime] losses, we just haven't caught [any] luck yet. I told the team that they're too good not to have their luck change."

Although he surrendered the winning goal, Bracken, along with the rest of the defense, kept the Judges in the game. Rochester outshot Brandeis 17-6, just the second time in eight games that their Judges attempted fewer shots than the opposition, but Bracken had a season-high eight saves in a losing cause.

"This is the best I've seen [Bracken] play all year," Coven said. "[He] really controlled his box. Rochester likes to attack in the air, and [Bracken's] really good at [defending shots] in the air."

The Judges had more luck in overtime Wednesday against Bridgewater State.

Rookie forward Steve Keucharian '11 provided the heroics, scoring his first-ever collegiate goal with the game-winner in the 94th minute, clinching the 3-2 victory.

Brandeis will try to earn its first home victory of the season when it plays the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.

The Judges then resume UAA on the road against 8-1 Case Western Reserve University Saturday at 1 p.m.