With just a few seconds left in the men's soccer team's season finale at home against University Athletic Association rival New York University, forward Corey Bradley '10 and the rest of the Judges were desperately trying to put the finishing touches on a furious comeback. After trailing 3-1 with 2 minutes to play, Bradley scored to cut the deficit in half, but Bradley's final shot as a Judge with just 22 seconds on the clock went just wide of the net, ending all hope for the team and the careers of Bradley and four of his senior teammates with a 3-2 NYU victory

The loss dropped Brandeis to 6-10-2 on the year, including a 1-5-1 record in UAA play. The Judges finished seventh in the conference, while the Violets' 2-3-2 conference record (7-8-2 overall) was good enough for fifth.

Goalie Matt Lynch '11 said that the team was resilient until the end of the game and badly wanted the victory.

"We knew that there was still time left on the clock and anything could happen," Lynch said. "It was the end of the season, so we just wanted to play hard for the seniors and do well for them."

The first half was relatively quiet compared to the second. NYU scored the only goal of the half and took a 1-0 lead into halftime on senior Brandon Hintz's first goal of the season in the 27th minute.

Brandeis answered quickly in the second half, scoring just 7 minutes into the period.

In the 52nd minute, forward Lee Russo '13 played a nice ball into the NYU far corner for midfielder Sam Ocel '13.

Ocel ran down the ball and used several nice fakes to beat the last NYU line of defense just inside the box. From there, the Brandeis midfielder blasted a shot that was stopped by NYU senior goalkeeper Marek Urbanski. However, Ocel retrieved his own rebound and tapped the ball into the open net to knot the game at one apiece.

"[That] was a huge goal for us because it tied up the game," Lynch said.

NYU scored the next two goals to jump ahead 3-1. In the 67th minute, sophomore Adam Fein sent a ball across the mouth of the net, and rookie Kyle Green barely beat Lynch to the ball and put it home. Just 9 minutes later, Hintz scored his second goal of the game to double the Violets' lead. Fein assisted this goal as well, this time putting a cross into the box that Hintz headed in.

Brandeis began to battle back almost immediately.

Led by Bradley and classmate Jamie Batista '10, the Judges spent much of the last 15 minutes with the ball on the NYU side of the field. The pressure finally paid off when Bradley and Batista hooked up in the 88th minute to cut the lead to 3-2. Batista found an open Bradley with a through ball into the box, and Bradley sent the ball into the lower right-hand corner of the net. The goal was the third of the season for the team's captain.

However, the rally finished just short as the Judges were unable to strike again.

Coach Mike Coven gave credit to Bradley and the rest of the senior class for their great careers. After an all-UAA season last year, Coven felt that Bradley was "even more complete this year, playing great defense in addition to being a complete offensive player." Summing up the captain's career, the coach stated that Bradley "has just been terrific."

All five of the Judges' seniors were hampered by injuries for much of their career, including Bradley, who missed most of his first year with a bruised heel.

Batista missed a significant amount of time in his sophomore and junior years with a series of concussions.

After recovering, coach Coven said that "we needed him to come back at full strength, and he's done really well for us."

Forward Mike Silverstein '10 also missed a lot of time but was an essential element for the Brandeis squad. After a great campaign last year, Silverstein blew out his knee.

He missed the end of last season and the beginning of this one, but Silverstein came back and helped the Judges raise their game this season against several tough UAA opponents.

"A big part of the team playing well later in the season was [Silverstein] really coming around," Coven said.

Perhaps the most missed player due to injuries was midfielder Adam Guttman '10. After starting as a first-year and maintaining his success through his second season, the co-captain tore his hamstring and missed most of his last two seasons.

Despite the injury, Coven noted his presence at every practice and praised Guttman for his determination to battle back.

"He would have been great if he hadn't torn [his hamstring]; we really missed him on the pitch," Coven said.

Midfielder Alex Zenerovitz '10 also missed much of this season due to illness.

Coven said Zenerovitz had a "very solid career," despite not getting much time on the field this season.

Even with a solid senior class, the Judges played a majority of first-year and sophomore players this year.

The added experience for the younger players will hopefully help the Judges improve on their 2009 campaign, which saw the team win its first UAA game in three seasons.

"It was a great learning experience for [the younger players]. It's going to help them all be better players next year," Coven said.