Instead of what could have been a pair of confidence boosting wins, it was a frustrating weekend for the Brandeis women’s soccer team. The double defeat came down to just two unlucky goals making the difference, as the Emory University Eagles and the University of Rochester Yellowjackets have established themselves as ascending powers in the National Collegiate Athletics Association Division III soccer scene late in the season. The Judges’ goalie, Rachel Ross MA ’25, played another career best game statistically on Friday, but the once red-hot and rising Judges have cooled off as the postseason approaches. 

The game versus Emory on Friday, Oct. 25 came after the weekly United Soccer Coaches Top 25 NCAA Division III rankings left Brandeis off the list for the first time this season since early September. Just last week, the Judges had climbed to No. 20 before losing to the unranked University of Chicago. To add salt to the wound, Emory University now occupies the No. 23 spot, which Brandeis held last week. But rankings are not everything, as shown by the Judges’ narrow loss by only one goal to the No. 1 ranked Washington University Bears on Oct. 11. By no means did this omission from the national rankings have to mark the beginning of the end of their season.

After a string of losses last weekend, relinquishing their top 25 status was appropriate, yet hard to stomach. The Judges’ panicked scramble to salvage their current 0-4 conference play record was exposed by an offensive unit that saw none of its top three goal scorers, Rachel Watler ’25, Tanvi Raju ’27 and Peterly Leroy ’28, near the net this weekend.

At home against Emory, the Judges did not initially seem destined for defeat, putting up three shots in the first five minutes. The Eagles began to assert themselves, however, and in the 19th minute, after Ross saved the initial shot on goal, Emory’s Mikayla Camp fought for the rebound and found the back of the net. 

The Judges denied the Eagles any subsequent attempts to gain more momentum. However, while Brandeis outshot Emory 7-5 in the second half, they themselves were unable to convert in the second half either. The game was truly a battle of the goalies, as Emory’s Sophia Garcia played an outstanding game, saving Brandeis’ best shot on goal from Dominique Paglia ’25 in the 85th minute. Ross’ high caliber of play should not be ignored either, as she made 11 saves, which was a career best for the graduate student, who has been a recent star of the Judges’ last few matches. 

Their defeat by Emory should have been more of a motivator than a mood-dampener, yet the Judges suffered again two days later at home versus Rochester on Sun. Oct. 27. Even more agonizing for the Judges, they outshot the pesky Yellowjackets 21-8, yet could not convert their efforts to points on the board. 

Rochester’s only goal was the team’s only shot on goal as well, making for a just plain unlucky result for Ross after going the entire game without any action. The game’s singular point came at 87:14 after a well-placed corner kick was guided to the back of the net by Rochester’s Claire Grover. 

As hard as it is to lose four matches in a row, perhaps it is even harder to lose every single one of those matches 1-0. Results and rankings are to be taken relatively, but a pattern of discontented and disheartened play begs to be broken before the postseason. 

The Judges face Case Western Reserve University for the teams’ first meeting this season on Sunday, Nov. 3. The Judges’ fate hangs in the balance as they fight to rejoin the top 25 rankings and prove that the past two weekends have just been unhappy flukes sullying their otherwise impressive season so far.