As the final minutes of the men's soccer team's season finale at New York University last Saturday approached, forward Ben Premo '09 said it was tough to hold back his emotions in what would be the final game of his and co-captain Kevin Murphy's '09 college careers. "With about three minutes left it started to overwhelm me, and I couldn't help but feel sad," Premo said. "You don't know how it feels until you're actually there."

The Judges concluded their season with a 2-0 loss to NYU, ending their postseason chances and clinching the team's second-straight winless season in the University Athletic Association. With the loss, Brandeis fell to 0-5-2 in conference play and dropped its overall record to 8-9-2, making it ineligible for the Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament. In order to qualify for the ECACs, a team must have an overall record of at least .500.

"It wasn't [a] lack of effort on our part. We knew how important this game was, and we worked hard all week," coach Mike Coven said. "I can't put my finger on what went wrong this season. We had high expectations, and it just didn't work out."

The Violets scored in the 18th minute when senior forward Branden Neal tapped in a crossing pass from junior midfielder Brandon Hintz for his team-leading seventh goal of the season.

The lead held, and in what continued to be a theme in Brandeis' UAA games this season, the Judges were forced to play more aggressively in the second half only to fall further behind. This time, the Judges gave up another goal in the final minutes of the contest when NYU rookie midfielder Badr Bevaart volleyed in a free kick by Hintz in the 81st minute.

"This game was very typical of us," Coven said. "A lot of games this year we didn't start well, and then we played with urgency and played better. Those late goals happen because we move up our guys when we get down. It happened against [Carnegie Mellon University] and [Emory University], and we blew a late lead against [the University of Chicago]."

Brandeis was shut out for the fifth time this season and has been blanked four times by UAA opponents.

"Like every UAA game, the other team came out flying and wanting it more than us," Premo said. "We came out flat again and tired-looking. They pressured us early and got that early goal, and it killed us."

Coven said the Judges weren't able to develop offensive continuity on Saturday.

"We didn't really develop a flow or rhythm on offense where all 11 guys would be involved in the attack, and you play as a team," Coven said. "It can look really attractive, and we had moments like that [this season], but they were few and far between, and that really was lacking for us in our UAA games."

Though the Judges struggled toward the end of the season, the team is confident about the future of the program.

This season saw the emergence of multiple rookies who accumulated significant minutes throughout the year. Sean O'Hare '12 won the starting goalie job early in the season before ultimately splitting time with Lynch, while midfielder Luke Teece '12 made his presence known early by picking up two assists in the season opener against Endicott College on Aug. 30.

Midfielder Evan Ersing '12 and defender David McCoy '12 found their way into the rotation midway through the season, and forward Alex Farr '12 finished third on the team with four goals.

"This team is only losing two seniors, so they'll have a lot to look forward to next season and years after that," Premo said. "They should do well in the future."

Premo became the fifth-leading scorer in the team's history and finished his career with 98 points. He and Murphy will be the only two players leaving the team, but Coven said they will both be missed.

"These two are very special players. They're both four-year starters," Coven said. "Premo really became a complete soccer player this year and is not just a goal-scorer. With Murphy, we had the most versatile, dependable and one of the most important players we've had in years. . Both of them will be tough to replace.