WALTHAM, MA – In order to secure its ninth shutout of the season, Rochester's men's soccer team had to deal with an aggressive attacking style from Brandeis University as well as fend off a couple of rain showers – some of them exceedingly strong.
 
When it all ended, Rochester and Brandeis dueled to a 0-0 double overtime tie. The decision gives Rochester an overall record of 8-3-4. The Yellowjackets are 2-3-1 in the UAA. They will host Emory University on Saturday afternoon and celebrate Senior Day before the game begins. Brandeis is 5-7-3 overall, 2-2-2 in the UAA. The Judges will play NYU next Saturday.
 
Santino Lupica-Tondo got a workout from the Judges. He made eight of his 10 saves in the second half when Brandeis pushed, and pushed, and pushed, trying to find a way through the Yellowjacket defense for an open shot. Brandeis fired 15 shots in the second 45 minutes, then 10 more in the overtime periods – five in each one. The Judges had two shots in the first half. Rochester had a dozen shots, 11 in regulation (six in the first half, five in the second half). Six of the shots were on target.
 
In the first half, Brandeis created its most challenging situations by hitting what amounted to 'pop-ups' near the goalmouth, forcing Lupica-Tondo to leap in traffic to snare the ball before a blue shirt could get a foot- or a head – on it and put it in the back of the net.
 
Four minutes after the restart, the Judges had an excellent chance to dent the scoreboard. The ball was carried down the left wing, almost to the corner kick spot, and swung across the face of the goal. Max Horowitz  fired from point blank range, trying to squeeze the ball inside the near post. Lupica-Tondo got to it first.
 
Shortly thereafter, he made two good saves on close-in tries, stopping Gabriel Haithcock on a sliding shot, then blocking and covering up the rebound shot taken by Eli Mones. Avi Lamba nearly broke the tie for UR. He rushed into the center of the box with over 30 minutes left. Brandeis goalkeeper Aiden Guthro blocked the shot. The match was 75 minutes old when UR was unable to take advantage of a break. Tommy Nelson ran down left wing. He crossed the ball in front with Guthro coming off his line to challenge. The goalie couldn't get to it with the net unguarded, but no white shirts could reach the ball in time to shoot.
 
UR conceded a free kick at the edge of the penalty area on the right (attacking) side. Andres Gonzalez lined it at goal but Lupica-Tondo batted it down. Horowitz tried to tuck in the rebound, but his shot hit the post.