After winning its first University Athletic Association game since 2006 against Case Western Reserve University Oct. 3, the men's soccer team returned to its familiar ways in conference play last Saturday at home against No. 11 the University of Rochester. The Judges were ahead early in the game but ultimately fell to the undefeated Yellowjackets 2-1. On the year, Brandeis dropped to 4-5-1 on the season and 1-1-0 in the UAA, after picking up a victory at Colby-Sawyer College last Thursday. Rochester improved to 8-0-2 and 2-0-0 in the UAA with the win.

The Judges are accustomed to having trouble with Rochester. Since 2005, Rochester has outscored Brandeis in head-to-head games by a count of 17-3.

"They've had their way with us the last few years," Coach Mike Coven said.

Against Rochester, the Judges struck first in the 23rd minute with a goal from forward Alexander Farr '12. Farr was set up by another solid pass from rookie forward Matt Peabody '13 that allowed him to break free for a one-on-one opportunity with the goalie.

Farr put it in for his team leading fifth goal of the season as Peabody tallied his second assist of the season. Peabody and Farr now share the team lead for points with 10.

Despite being outshot 6-5 in the first half, the Judges took the 1-0 lead into halftime as both teams played evenly throughout.

In the second half, Brandeis was able to hold on to its lead until about halfway through the period in the 70th minute, when Rochester senior forward J.J. Dennstedt received a crossing pass from classmate Phil Proud and fired a shot in from outside the box that got past Brandels goaltender Matt Lynch '10. The goal was Dennstedt's team-leading sixth goal of the season.

The Judges were not deflated, however, and nearly answered with a goal of their own in the 74th minute. Luke Teece '12 broke away from defenders and chased down a loose ball deep in Rochester's zone but barely missed a shot that would have given the Judges the lead.

Rochester scored the game-winning goal in the 82nd minute, when Phil Proud earned his second assist off of a free kick pass to senior Scott Cady, who headed the ball past Lynch. Lynch finished the game with a season-high seven saves.

Despite the loss, the Judges battled Rochester to the very end.

"[Rochester was the] best team we've played all year," Peabody said. "We hung with them for 90 minutes, so [it's] definitely a big statement."

"All in all, it was one of our better performances of the year," Coven added. "A few of Rochester's players and their coach told me that this game was the most difficult game they've had to play all season, but I would've still liked to have had that win."

At Colby-Sawyer, the Judges clinched the victory on a late goal from Farr in the 81st minute off of a feed from forward Sam Ocel '13. Farr netted his second game-winning goal of the season and for the time being put the Judges back at .500 on the season. Farr scored the final goal in a 2-1 victory over the Massachusetts Institute of Technology back on Sept. 23.

Forward Corey Bradley '10 also scored for Brandeis and did so for the second game in a row after not scoring last season. Rookie Eric Root '13 was the third Brandeis goal-scorer and tallied the first goal of his career.

The team has three tough games this week, starting this afternoon at Babson College at 3:30 p.m. Babson recently defeated No. 22 Wheaton College and could as a result be ranked No. 1 in New England when the new rankings come out tonight.

The Judges will then travel to Pittsburgh and Atlanta this weekend to take on No. 9 Carnegie Mellon University Friday at 5 p.m. and then Emory University at 5 p.m.