Going into halftime of last Saturday's game against No. 14 University of Rochester, the women's soccer team trailed its University Athletic Association opponents by just one goal, but a second-half scoring surge by the Yellowjackets widened the gap before the Judges could respond. Five minutes into the second half, Rochester sophomore forward Bridgette Varin scored her second goal of the game, a header off a free kick from junior midfielder Mae Butler to double the Yellowjackets' lead. Almost 16 minutes and two Varin goals later, the one-goal Rochester advantage had quadrupled.

Varin scored a UAA record-tying four goals, three in the second half, as Rochester defeated the Judges 5-1 in the conference opener for both teams. The loss dropped the Judges to 6-3-1 on the year, including their 3-0 victory over Wellesley College last Wednesday.

"[Varin's] a good player, but I think when we actually play like we can play, it wouldn't have happened," midfielder Ruth Orbach '11 said. "We just didn't adapt very well to their style of play, which [was] very direct, and we didn't play the way that we play, which is on the ground and passing around, and it's generally very effective, but we didn't take control of the game, so [Varin] was able to exploit the openings that we left open by our defending issues as a team."

The Judges scored in the 77th minute when forward Melissa Gorenkoff '10 scored an unassisted goal from 35 yards out into the top left corner of the net, cutting the Yellowjackets' lead to three, but that would be the only goal Brandeis would score against Rochester sophomore goalie Shannon Alderfer, who had entered the game in the 73rd minute for junior goalie Celeste Hornbach.

Varin, who had only three goals going into the game, got the scoring started in the 12th minute, when rookie forward Ellen Coleman passed her a ball to the right, and she shot it into the lower left corner to give the Yellowjackets the early 1-0 lead.

Varin's final two goals also came off assists from Coleman, one off a rebound from a Coleman shot in the 60th minute and the other on a breakaway in the 66th minute.

"[Varin] was in the right place at the right time," coach Denise Dallamora said. "They put a lot, a lot of pressure on us, and we didn't play particularly well."

The Yellowjackets shut down the Judges' offense, holding Brandeis to four shots versus Rochester's 13. Rochester has allowed only eight goals in 10 games this season.

"They have a lot of speed, so they put pressure on the ball very, very quickly," Dallamora said. "We did not play very composed, we played kind of nervous, [we] got caught with the ball at our feet a lot .Our speed of play was too slow. We needed to be one-touching balls, and we took two touches, and they were speedy and sometimes they double-teamed us, and we made mistakes."

The loss begins a tough stretch for the Judges, who play three nationally ranked teams in the next month, including UAA foes No. 12 Emory University and No. 22 Washington University in St. Louis.

"We might have to change our system [against some of these upcoming opponents], so we might have to play with more players back against them, so that's what we're looking at," Dallamora said.

Earlier in the week the Judges dominated Wellesley College in a 3-0 victory. The Judges outshot Wellesley 29-5 and allowed just two shots on goal in the win.

The Judges got a goal and an assist from rookie midfielder Alanna Torre '12 in the win. The goal came off a corner kick from defender Taryn Martiniello '11 in the 31st minute to give the Judges the 1-0 lead. Just over seven minutes later, rookie reserve Kaitlin Oldfield '12 got an assist from Torre to notch the first goal of her collegiate career.

"It was one of our best, both offensively and defensive games," Dallamora said. "We just played well, and we connected the dots offensively."

The final goal came courtesy of forward Tiffany Pacheco '11, who scored in the 51st minute off an assist from Gorenkoff.

The Judges return home to play their second straight game against a ranked opponent, squaring off against No. 9 Tufts University today at 7 p.m. before continuing UAA play at home against Case Western Reserve University Saturday at 11 a.m.

-Julie Ganz contributed reporting