The men's soccer team outshot and outplayed Clark University last Saturday but couldn't put the ball in the net and conceded a 1-0 road loss. A second-half strike from freshman forward Josh Demers gave Clark a lead they would not relinquish, handing Brandeis its first loss of the season.

"I feel like there was a lack of concentration when we were on the ball, and we seemed to get frustrated," said defender Matt Brondoli '14. "We couldn't win balls in the midfield, and usually our three central midfielders are better in the air. But [Clark] worked harder and we didn't win anything."

Clark played a mostly passive game, moving the ball around midfield and breaking up plays that Brandeis tried to create. Clark wasn't particularly offensive, either, only shooting seven times throughout the match. But Clark got its goal in the 49th minute, with Demers finishing a cross from the left flank by freshman Gianluca Ranallo for his first goal of the season.

"They only had two opportunities to threaten, and [on] one of them they scored," said coach Mike Coven. "They broke us down in the middle third of the field. And on the goal they scored, we really broke down in back."

The Judges were impressive in their opening two matches, downing both Fitchburg State College and Keene State College by 5-0 score lines. But both of those games were played on wide-open fields compared to the narrow, short field at Clark. The Judges had also not played a game since their opening weekend, as their match last Wednesday at Colby-Sawyer College was postponed due to inclement weather.

"I think if we had played Colby-Sawyer midweek, we would have had some momentum that would have come though this weekend, and that would have helped," added Brondoli.

Despite not playing a game for 7 days and competing on an unorthodox, narrow field, the Judges did create a few chances to score. Brandeis forced five saves out of Clark junior goalkeeper Ryan King, who stopped the Judges' best bid to level the game in the final minutes of the second half of play.

In the 87th minute, midfielder Sam Ocel '13 found himself with space at the top of the 6-yard box and fired a point-blank shot at King. King made a reaction save and parried the chance away, preserving the shutout and keeping his team ahead.

"There were sitters on the 2-yard line," added Coven. "They had opportunities to finish in the 6-yard box. That happens sometimes. We had good chances in the second half and didn't capitalize on them. And the team that dominates in the middle third of the field is going to win, and we didn't win it."

The Cougars are one of the few Massachusetts-based teams that gives Brandeis much trouble. Since 2005, the Judges are 2-3-2 against Clark. But in the same time frame, the Judges have a dominant 34-18-5 record against other Massachusetts teams. Brandeis will try to regroup after Saturday's loss tomorrow night as they play host to another Massachusetts team, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, in its home opener. Brandeis defeated WPI 4-1 in their previous meeting in September 2010.

"WPI will be similar to Clark—very direct and aggressive," finished Coven. "They're a very big team, and they're going to come at us and be physical and try to win the middle third of field. They'll go forward and try and get behind us."

"I think we have the leadership to come out and learn from our mistakes. It's our first home game and we play better at home. Hopefully, we'll have a good crowd, and we certainly have the ability to turn it around."