In the 74th minute of the women's soccer team's game against University Athletic Association rival No. 23 University of Rochester, the Judges trailed 1-0 and had one of their best scoring opportunities of the game. Midfielder Sofia Vallone '11 had a free kick opportunity 25 yards from the goal, but Yellowjackets senior keeper Celeste Hornbach made a leaping save to preserve the Rochester lead.That save was as close as the Judges would get in the second half, as Rochester went on to win 1-0 to drop the Judges to 6-4-2 on the season after defeating Tufts University 2-0 last Wednesday. The team is now 0-2-0 in the UAA.

"They were stepping up and winning the 50-50 balls," coach Denise Dallamora said of Rochester. "They played tough, and they stepped up hard, and they backed each other up."

Rochester scored the only goal it would need in the 15th minute, when sophomore forward Ellen Coleman collected a loose ball and passed it to junior midfielder Kristen Ross, who hit it into the lower right corner of the net just past the dive of Brandeis keeper Hillary Rosenzweig '10.

The Yellowjackets outshot the Judges 9-5 in the first half but could not get any more shots in the back of the net thanks to some solid defense and a little bit of luck in the 30th minute. At that moment, midfielder/forward Danielle Crean shot a ball from the right side of the field toward the left side of the net that hit the left post.

"The first 15 minutes [of the game] we had a little bit of a slow start. Obviously we gave up that goal," Dallamora added. "Then we started to come alive, I think we controlled a lot of the last 10 or 15 minutes of the first half."

The Judges had more chances in the second half, including two corner kicks in the last 5 minutes, 5 seconds but Brandeis could not convert either of them into goals.

To add injury to insult, midfielder/defender Alanna Torre '12 hurt her right knee while going for a ball in the second half and had to be helped off the field. Torre says she thinks the knee is just hyperextended but that the team is being cautious because she has had a similar injury on that same knee in the past. Dallamora said after the game she hopes Torre will only miss a week or two at most.

Last season the Judges lost to Rochester 5-1 after giving up four goals to then-sophomore forward Bridgette Varin. Dallamora said that the team still did not focus its preparation on stopping Varin this time around, saying "She just got lucky last year" with her four goals.

The loss to Rochester this season was the Judges' second straight defeat in conference play, but players like Torre are keeping an optimistic attitude about the situation.

"Well, we all know we can [beat UAA teams], and as much as [losing to] Rochester was upsetting, it's obviously better than last year when we lost [5-1] and we definitely should have won against Case [Oct. 3] since we were the better team; it's unlucky, I guess," Torre said.

Last Wednesday, the Judges snapped their two-game losing streak with a 2-0 win at Tufts, then the No. 7 team in the New England region.

Brandeis midfielder Mimi Theodore '12 scored the game-winning goal in the 25th minute off the rebound of a shot by forward Tiffany Pacheco '11. Theodore also assisted on the second goal in the 85th minute when she passed the ball to Vallone outside the 18-yard-line, and Vallone hit it into the lower-left corner of the net for her fourth goal of the season.

Rosenzweig made seven saves in the win, tying her with Justine McBride '92 for the school's all-time leader in shutouts with 19. It was the Judges' first win against Tufts since 2004.

"Before the game everyone was like, 'Oh man, we have the hardest week'-Tufts and Rochester, two teams we could possibly lose to, and it was just an amazing win and everyone was so excited," Torre said. "We were worried because it was raining that day, but we really stepped up and had an awesome game, and everyone was really happy with the win."

The Judges have a UAA road trip next weekend, starting at Carnegie Mellon University Friday at 7:30 p.m. and then heading down to Emory University Sunday at 1:30 p.m.