The men's soccer team came away with nothing this past weekend after an away stint at Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Chicago. The Midwest road trip kicked off on Friday when the Judges lost 4-1 to Washington University in St. Louis. On Sunday, Brandeis rounded out the trip with a 1-0 loss to the Maroons.Despite outshooting Chicago 10-9, none of Brandeis' chances found the back of the net. The attack was hampered by the absence of forward Luke Teece '12, the team's leading scorer. Teece went down with a concussion in the first half and was unable to return. "We were a little off the mark," coach Michael Coven said. "We didn't create good offense. Not having guys like Teece hurt us and we just didn't play well. We had decent service into the box and we shot high and wide."

The teams spent much of the first half battling in the middle of the pitch, allowing both teams just three shots. But the game opened up in the second half, and against the run of play, the Maroons scored.

In the 58th minute, junior midfielder Alan Pikna played a ball to sophomore midfielder Daniel Hahn. Hahn drove a cross toward Brandeis' goal that found junior midfielder Stanton Coville, who shot and scored for his seventh goal of the season and the 1-0 lead.

Though Brandeis was on the losing end, goalkeeper Taylor Bracken '11 made four stops on the day. At the opposite end of the field, Chicago freshman goalkeeper Mason Harless made two saves, as just two of Brandeis' 10 shots were on target.

The team also struggled in last Friday's match against Washington University. WashU entered the match ranked No. 12 and showed its talent by scoring four unanswered goals against Brandeis for the Judges' worst loss of the season.

Brandeis managed to challenge WashU in just the 9th minute. Forward Steve Keuchkarian '11 played a ball through the defense that forward Lee Russo '13 sent past the keeper for his fifth goal of the season and the 1-0 lead. Russo's tally made him the fourth player on the Judges with at least five goals this season.

Bracken made five stops in the opening 45 minutes, keeping Brandeis in the game after the team was outshot 7-4 in the first half. Bracken nearly lasted to earn a first-half shutout. But in the 43rd minute, WashU junior forward Dylan Roman found himself on a breakaway and put the ball through Bracken's legs to level the match at one goal apiece.

The Bears came out in the second half and scored twice in the first 5 minutes to put the game out of the Judges' reach. Freshman forward Jeremy Kirkwood scored both for WashU, his first coming in the 48th minute. Kirkwood found space in the penalty area during a corner kick from senior midfielder Cody Costakis and powered the ball in past Bracken.

83 seconds later, Kirkwood was sprung into attack after receiving the ball from junior forward Patrick McLean. Kirkwood capitalized on the chance by shooting a ball past Bracken for his third on the season and the third of WashU's day.

Brandeis defender Matt Hohmann '11 picked up two yellow cards and was subsequently ejected in the 73rd minute, leaving the team down one player.

"That wasn't warranted," Evans said. "He fouled a man and he probably deserved it, but on the second one, it was two guys going for the ball and they gave him the second yellow."

Just 2 minutes after Hohmann was sent off, the Bears grabbed their fourth goal of the match.

McLean found junior midfielder Zach Hendrickson with open space, and Hendrickson took a touch and scored his first goal of the season.

This weekend's results give Brandeis a 9-6-1 record overall and a 1-4-1 record in University Athletic Association play. It won't get any easier for the squad as they close out the season. Their regular season finale will be away at New York University, which is currently ranked first in the UAA.

"They haven't given up a goal in UAA play," Evans said, adding, "It's an away game and we have to come out and win. We need come out and play better than we played this weekend.