Missed opportunities were the prevalent theme in the men's soccer University Athletic Association opener last Saturday as the Judges lost a tight match to Case Western Reserve University by a score of 3-2. Coach Michael Coven felt that the team was outplayed for much of the match against Case.

"We played very, very poorly today," he said. "We didn't defend well. We didn't win balls in the middle third of the field, and we deserved to lose this game. We're lucky we didn't lose this game by more than one goal."

After losing three straight games, Brandeis is now 6-3 on the season and 0-1 in UAA play.

The Judges had several early scoring chances but were unable to find the back of the net. In the 3rd minute, midfield/forward Lee Russo '13 booted a kick that sailed over the top post of the goal; midfielder Joe Eisenbies '13 launched a shot that cut just left of the crossbar in the 10th minute.

Case Western drew first blood in the 18th minute as senior midfielder Jordan Fox placed a header into the corner of the net off of an assist by sophomore forward/midfielder Eric Erb.

Brandeis tied the game in the 37th minute as forward Alexander Farr '12 redirected the ball into the back of the net. Russo crossed the ball into the middle, and midfielder Theo Terris '12 touched the ball past the Spartan goalkeeper before Farr put it home.

The goal was Farr's fifth of the season, good for second on the team.

However, the Spartans quickly regained the lead just 4 minutes later as sophomore midfielder Kostis Theoharides' throw-in found Erb, who was able to head the ball in.

The Judges squandered several opportunities at the start of the second half as well. In the 45th minute after a corner kick from midfielder Ben Applefield '14, Terris headed the ball toward the Case goal but had his shot blocked by a defender.

Terris regrouped and fired another shot, but Case junior goalie Ben Yabrow made the save.

The Spartans extended their lead to two goals in the 53rd minute when sophomore defender Sam Kuehnle drove a free kick downfield to Fox, who maneuvered the ball past the Brandeis defense and scored.

Brandeis cut the deficit back down to one goal in the 62nd minute. Farr cut toward the net, freeing defenders away from midfielder Luke Teece '12. Farr then dropped the ball back to Teece, who powered the ball into the corner of the Case net for his team-leading sixth goal of the season.

The Judges had three shots and four corner kicks in the final 25 minutes of action but were unable to tie the game. In total, Brandeis outshot Case Western 18-14, including a 10-4 margin in the second half. However, the team was unable to come away with the victory.

Despite the loss to Case, Farr noted his team's solid effort in the second half of the game.

"We started off a little low-energy," Farr said. "They put a couple easy goals in there. In the end, we tried to rally back. The last 20 minutes, we were getting them on their heels and we just weren't able to tie them up."

Both Farr and Coven noted that the team's communication on defense needed to improve for future games.

"We've got to work on our communication and defending," Farr said. "All 11 players just have to mark their man and stay with their man. If we can do that, we can do a better job."

"We didn't challenge the 50-50 balls and were very unaggressive in the middle third of the field," Coven said. "[We need to improve our] team defense, individual defense, playing with a little bit more passion and in the middle third of the field."

The men's soccer team will look to snap its three-game losing-streak tomorrow at Wheaton College at 4 p.m.

The men will then play at University of Rochester Saturday at 7 p.m.