In the 59th minute of the game between No. 23 Brandeis University and No. 15 Emory University last Sunday, with the Judges already down 1-0, midfielder Mary Shimko '14 hit a shot toward the goal that went wide of the net. That ended up being Brandeis' only shot of the second half, and the Eagles added an insurance goal to win 2-0 in a matchup of two 10-win University Athletic Association teams. The match was also the Judges' first loss this season by more than one goal.

The Judges' record now stands at 10-3-1, 2-2 in the UAA, after victories against Clark University and Carnegie Mellon University earlier in the week.

"We knew that they were having a very good season, and they are real dangerous in their center midfield and their attacking players," Emory coach Sue Patberg said of Brandeis. "We knew that, and we just said, 'Hey, we got to be on our A game and try to not let them turn and try to, not let them have time on the ball. . I thought we did a really good job of not allowing them to get really clean looks at the goal."

Emory took the lead in the 37th minute after a shot by Eagles rookie forward/midfielder Veronica Romero was originally saved by Brandeis goalie Francine Kofinas '13. Another Emory rookie, defender Ashley Kaiser, eventually collected the ball and shot it into the left corner of the net to give the Eagles the only goal they would need.

"They possessed the ball very well, and they won the 50-50s," Brandeis coach Denise Dallamora said of Emory. "They're a quick counterattacking team, so they got numbers up very quickly on the attack."

The Judges got six shots off in the first half but were unable to connect on any of them. Five of these shots came in the first 18 minutes of the half, and three came in the first 10 minutes of the half.

The Eagles maintained the momentum in the second half, outshooting the Judges 12-1 and adding a second goal off the foot of rookie midfielder Kelly Costopoulos on a cross from junior forward Caroline Coates. It was the first time the Judges had given up more than one goal since Brandeis' season-opening loss to Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"They're a really good team, much better than last year," midfielder/defender Alanna Torre '12 said. "It was difficult for us, because we had to figure out how to play our formation because theirs was different. They played in a four-three-three, and we actually ended up switching in the second half to match up with them because we were outnumbered in the middle, and we had to keep shifting in the first half. They were really driving it down the middle, which was causing problems for us."

Last Friday afternoon, the Judges got their second conference win of the season by defeating Carnegie Mellon 1-0. It was Brandeis' sixth shutout of the season. The teams combined for just seven shots in the first half, with the Tartans holding a 4-3 edge. But the Judges took the lead just over 2 minutes into the second half when forward Tiffany Pacheco '11 hit a corner kick that bent into the net. The score put her into a tie for fourth place on the Brandeis all-time scoring list with 79 points. Her 28th career goal also put her into a tie for seventh place on the school's all-time list in this category.

Friday's game also marked the return of Brandeis defender Allison Maresca '12, who had missed the previous three games due to an ankle injury. Defender Kelly Peterson '14 started in Maresca's place, but Maresca came into the game early in the second half.

Dallamora pointed out that Maresca missed a lot of conditioning work while she was injured, so she would not be able to start right away.

She also started the second half against Emory and played the rest of the game.

"It's really great to have her back," Torre said of Maresca. "She's one of my favorite players on our team. . Everyone was worried when she was injured."

Last Tuesday afternoon, the Judges defeated Clark University 2-1. Clark took the early lead just 6 1/2 minutes into the game, but Brandeis got the equalizer in the 27th minute on forward Sofia Vallone's '11 team-leading 12th goal of the season. Midfielder Mimi Theodore '12 got the assist on the goal, and she also got a helper on the game-winning goal in the 87th minute, a header from Shimko. The score was Shimko's first collegiate goal.

The Judges are next in action tomorrow night at home in a non-conference matchup against Bowdoin College at 7 p.m.