While Saturday's homecoming weather was far from ideal, the atmosphere at Gordon Field remained spirited and competitive for both the men's and women's soccer teams in their matches against the University of Rochester.

On the women's side, the Judges battled to a 0-0 draw after two extra time periods in which, despite the Judges controlling play, neither team was able to find a decisive goal.

Yet, on Tuesday, the Judges downed host Eastern Nazarene University by a 2-0 margin.

"[Rochester] was much bigger than us, so we had to keep the ball on the ground," said forward Dara Spital '15 of the encounter with the YellowJackets. "[In retrospect], we should have been making more diagonal runs away from the middle to take their defenders out of the middle of the field."

From the outset, this game was a defensive battle, as both teams struggled to find space and create opportunities. Both defensive units played confidently and convincingly on the back line, especially as defenders Alec Spivack '15 and Kelly Peterson '14 took control of the middle of the formation while right back Emma Eddy '15 and left back Haley Schachter '16 handled the wings.

Goalkeeper Michelle Savuto '15 recorded a clean sheet, fending off a low speculative shot that had to be saved by a diving effort late in the second half and two close attempts in the first extra time. For the Judges, Spital and forward Sapir Edalati '15 facilitated the main attacking plays. Spital, in fact, had several attempts at goal, two of which veered just wide of the net. Edalati managed to break through the Rochester defensive several times but failed to muscle the ball to the back of the net. Her best opportunity came on a through ball that she managed to reach with the end of her foot, but like many of the Judges' shots that afternoon, the attempt was swallowed up by Rochester junior goalie Aubrey Jaicks.

Besides a few long shots from well outside the box, which were more dangerous than anticipated-including one that hit the crossbar-the two closest attempts for the Judges came on two headers from long distance. Midfielder Mathilde Robinson '16 managed to get the ball over the Rochester defense and direct the ball into the crossbar, only to have it bounce straight down into Jaicks' grip. Though it appeared the ball had crossed over the goal line, Jaicks did well in handling the ball quickly and keeping the ball moving. However, despite hitting the woodwork three times in the game, the Judges were unable to find the back of the net, resulting in a scoreless draw.

Additionally, the prolific Spital-who leads the team in scoring with nine goals this season-was given few opportunities due to the stingy Rochester defense.

"They did a nice job man-marking me," she said. "I had to make a lot of runs to free myself up and [had to run] back to the midfield. I had to play quickly because there was always a defender nearby."

Earlier in the week, the Judges found themselves in a scoreless deadlock for most of the first half-even though the Judges outshot the Eastern Nazarene Crusaders by a 6-3 margin. However, after receiving a direct kick in the 42nd minute, Spital made Eastern Nazarene pay, sending a high shot that caromed off the crossbar and into the net for a 1-0 advantage just before the half.

The Judges notched a second goal shortly thereafter, and yet again, Spital was involved. She fed a ball to forward Holly Szafran '16 who was at the top of the box. Szafran placed a low shot into the left corner, giving the Judges a 2-0 advantage that they held for the rest of the game.
Despite the results, Spital believes the team can improve both its speed and variedness in its play.

"For our next games [Friday against Carnegie Mellon University and Sunday versus Emory University], we need to continue to improve our runs and opening up the field. We also have the play a little quicker. We have two big University Athletic Association games coming up this week and we have to get it done. These games are much more physical and fast-paced and we have to be ready," she said.

Brandeis will face two tough tests next weekend, doing battle with Carnegie Mellon University on Friday before travelling to Atlanta to play Emory University on Sunday.