FAUVER STADIUM – Well, the business cliche may say it's lonely at the top, but as far as the men's soccer race in the University Athletic Association, there are plenty of suitors for the title and the automatic bid.
 
After Sunday's results, Chicago leads the pack with 12 points. Emory is second with seven points. Rochester, Carnegie Mellon, and Brandeis are all tied for third place with five points. Washington has four points. NYU has three, and Case has two.
 
Case picked up one of those points when the Spartans scored later in the second half to produce a 1-1 double overtime tie with Rochester. Carnegie Mellon battled Emory to a 1-1 standoff in Atlanta. Chicago rumbled past NYU, 5-0, and Brandeis seized a 2-1 victory over Washington University on the road.
 
What it means is that the last couple of weeks in the league will be filled with scoreboard watching around the nation. Rochester plays a non-league game at Vassar College next Saturday. The Yellowjackets travel to NYU on October 28 and to Brandeis on October 30. UR hosts Emory on Senior Night on November 5.
 
Sunday's match against Case produced some physical play at both ends and made scoring chances tough to come by. The Yellowjackets held the upper hand for much of the first half. Geoff Rouin had two good chances eight minutes apart. In the ninth minute, he collected a long ball from Ben Swanger, sped towards goal, but had his shot saved for a corner kick by Case goalie Calvin Boyle. In the 17^th minute, he fired from left wing for the top right corner, but the ball was saved again for a corner by Boyle. Midway through the period, Rouin played a corner kick to Aleks Dombrowsky at the back post. He headed it back into the center for Lucas Loecher who headed it just wide of the left post.
 
Case's two best chances came 10 minutes apart. With 15 minutes left, the Spartans were awarded a free kick just outside the penalty area in the right slot. Alex Keller-Biehl hoisted hi shot just over the crossbar. Another free kick 10 minutes later caused different challenges for the UR defense. Zach Broujos took a free kick from midfield and the defense scrambled it away for a corner kick. On the corner, Christian Lytle got his head to the ball and UR goalkeeper Patrick Conway made a leaping save.

Rochester finally broke through in the 50^th minute. A long ball was played upfield to Jeff Greblick racing down the right wing. He accelerated into the penalty area and headed for the endline. Just before he got there, he crossed the ball sharply in front and Mitch Volis slammed it into the corner of the net. Immediately thereafter, Rouin rushed down left wing on a counter and fired into the side netting as Boyle charged off the line with his arms waving.
 
Case pushed, and pushed, and pushed. The Spartans were rewarded in the 71^st minute. Paul Darmstadter took a throw-in along the right sideline and hurled it to the back post. Joshua Prosser bicycle-kicked it into the left side of the goal, tying the score.

Rochester is 8-1-3 overall, 1-1-2 in the UAA. Case is 4-7-3 overall, 0-2-2 in the UAA. Each goalkeeper finished with six saves.