Just 16 minutes, 20 seconds into the Brandeis women's soccer team's game against No. 18 Springfield College, forward Tiffany Pacheco '11 found herself facing a wide-open net with the game tied at 0-0. A goal would have given the Judges an early lead against one of the top teams in the country.Unfortunately for the Judges, Pacheco's shot sailed just wide left, and the Judges went on to tie Springfield 0-0 in double overtime. Brandeis is now 2-1-1 after a 1-0 loss at Babson College on Wednesday.

After having five shots in the second half and just one in the first overtime, the Judges put the pressure on the Springfield defense in the second overtime, when the Judges got off three shots in the last nine minutes of play. The first two came from midfielder Alanna Torre '12, who hit a ball wide of the net in the 102nd minute and another that was saved by Pride sophomore goalie Hanna MacDougall in the 105th minute. Brandeis also had a good chance at the end of the game when midfielder Mimi Theodore '12, who had just come back into the game less than three minutes earlier, hit a header that also went wide of the net.

"Unfortunately. I thought we were the better team [on Saturday]. I thought we played hard, and we definitely controlled a lot of the game, but we didn't really have a lot of shot opportunities that were threatening," coach Denise Dallamora said. "[Springfield] did not play as well as I thought they were going to be. They're very athletic, they're very physical, [and] they moved the ball well, but we actually stepped up and won a lot more of the 50-50s, and we just controlled more of the game."

The Pride had some scoring opportunities as well. With just over 10 minutes left in regulation, Springfield sophomore forward Katie Mantie's free kick sailed over the crossbar. Mantie also had a shot go high in the fourth minute of overtime that would have given Springfield the win.

Both teams had similar statistics. Each goaltender had four saves and Brandeis had 16 shots compared to the Pride's 14. However, nine of the Judges' shots came from either Torre or Pacheco, while Springfield's shots were more spread out, with no player having more than three.

Springfield's one big advantage came on corner kicks, having 10 compared to just four for Brandeis. However, the Brandeis defense, which has given up just three goals in four games, was able to shut the Pride down. The defense was led by goalie Hillary Rosenzweig '10, who pitched her 17th career shutout and first of the season.

"The defense played exceptionally [well]. Every one of them stepped up," Dallamora said. "All four of the back four [defenders Allison Maresca '12, Taryn Martiniello '11, Jessica Schulman '12 and Francesca Shin '12] were solid from beginning to end. Maybe [they made] a couple of mistakes here and there but basically they played lights-out."

Last Wednesday night, the Judges suffered their first loss of the season against Babson College. The Beavers scored the only goal of the game in the 71st minute when junior Patty Pytlik scored her fourth goal of the season on a shot that landed inside the left post. Babson outshot Brandeis 20-10 in the game, including 11-4 in the second half, though Dallamora thought that statistic was because Babson was being more liberal in what they considered a "shot."

"I think we controlled most of the first half," she said. "We did not control the second half; they controlled the second half, and that was unfortunate for us."

The Judges are next in action today at home against Bridgewater State University at 4 p.m. and Thursday at Roger Williams College at 3 p.m.