Two words described the fortunes of the women's soccer team this past week: draw and defeat.

Despite hanging tough and creating opportunities in last Sunday's game against Washington University in St. Louis, the Judges were unable to find the net, falling 3-0 to the No. 10 Bears. The loss came two days after a 1-1 tie against No. 24 University of Chicago that was halted by a lightning delay. The Judges are now 5-8-1 overall and 0-2-1 in the University Athletic Association

Last Sunday, WashU started in fine form, as freshman forward Lillie Toaspern called goalkeeper Francine Kofinas '13 into action after three minutes, 30 seconds, corralling the striker's low shot.

The visiting Bears would take the lead exactly 16 minutes into the match. Toaspern fed senior forward Emma Brown, who waltzed her way into the box before beating a diving Kofinas to the left corner to give the Bears a 1-0 lead.

Lightning struck again less than two minutes later. WashU junior midfielder Lauren Clatch crossed to sophomore teammate Lauren Steimle, whose header inside the far post, gave the Judges a mountain to climb.

The Bears almost jumped out to a three-goal lead after 22 minutes, as sophomore midfielder Jessica Johnson fired narrowly wide of the post. However, the early double was still intact, as the Judges headed into the break down 2-0.

The Bears would strike again with 25:53 remaining, as senior midfielder Mari Greenberg fed Johnson, who slotted home past substitute keeper Michelle Savuto '15. Savuto would make saves off of Toaspern and Brown late on, but by that point WashU had sealed the victory.

"When you are down two goals, you tend to play with more urgency," said defender Ali Maresca '12. "Since they did score early, we had a lot of time to even out the score. I think we played a lot better in the second half but in the end we were still unable to score and make a comeback."

"We knew they were big and mostly a kick-and-run team, so we wanted to play quickly and pass around them," added Kelly Peterson '14. "After their goals, we were still aiming to possess the ball, but we tried to be more offensively minded."

Though shut out against Case Western Reserve on Oct. 9, the women wasted no time getting on the board against Chicago last Friday night. Midfielder Mary Shimko '14 let fly a rasping drive which flew past senior goalkeeper Emma Gormley and into the net to give Brandeis the upper hand.

They almost had the ball in the net a second time at nine minutes, as midfielder Alanna Torre '12 and Maresca had efforts cleared following a corner kick, the latter having her effort cleared off the line. Despite their supremacy in possession, the Judges couldn't break the game open further, as it was still 1-0 at the half.

Chicago would strike with 36:53 left in the game. Senior striker Alison Hegel broke in one-on-one with Kofinas. Instead of customarily sliding the ball across the face of the goal, Hegel hammered a shot with the outside of her right foot past the diving Brandeis goalkeeper and into the left-side netting, to knot things up at one apiece.

Less than 30 seconds following the goal, the game entered a new ninety-minute phase, due to a lightning delay. It couldn't have come at a better time.

"It slowed down Chicago's momentum from the goal they had just scored," midfielder Mimi Theodore '12 said. "It gave us a time to regroup and try to reorganize ourselves."

However, despite numerous chances down the stretch, including a nice effort from Torre in the second overtime, the Judges were unable to convert their scoring opportunities, resulting in a 1-1 draw.

Though avoiding defeat, Maresca thought the team could have emerged victorious.

"I think we controlled both the overtimes but were unable to find the back of the net despite some great offensive shots," she said.

Brandeis, sitting at 5-8-1 following last Sunday's game, will look to get back to its winning ways in a home game against Endicott College on Oct. 24.

Though the team has hit a few rough patches, Peterson thinks that the emergence of some of the younger players bodes well for the future.

"They all contribute to our team and the experience they are getting now will benefit our team in the long run."