CLEVELAND – A goal in the final minutes foiled the Case Western Reserve University women's soccer team's upset bid of No. 8 Emory University (Ga.) in a 1-0 loss on a cold and sunny Sunday afternoon at DiSanto Field.

The Spartans fall to 8-9-1 overall and 0-5-1 in the University Athletic Association, while the Eagles improve to 13-3-1 and 5-1-0 in the conference.

Emory's Kelly Costopoulos beat Spartan junior goalkeeper Abbey Smith (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty) at the 83:02 mark in the second half when she slid in to meet a cross after a fine bit of passing from Jennifer Grant and Emily Feldman.

The match was evenly balanced throughout the first half as each team had several chances, but neither was able to break the deadlock. The best chance of the opening period came when an Emory corner was met by the foot of Jordan Morell at the back post, but Smith was able to parry it wide.

Despite holding the ball in promising areas, the Spartans did not test the Emory goalkeeper until the 13:50 mark when freshman midfielder Anne Backlund's (Rochester, Minn./Mayo) shot from distance was saved. Senior forward Leah Levey (Columbus, Ohio/Bexley), senior midfielder Rachel Bourque (Newton, N.H./Central Catholic) and sophomore midfielder Kate Dolansky (Brecksville, Ohio/Hathaway Brown) all had good looks towards goal, but their respective shots were blocked.

In the second half, Emory increased the offensive pressure, but Smith was able to repel each attack, including a superb save to deny Emory's Charlotte Butker in a one-on-one situation. The Eagles would finally slip one past the Spartan keeper with under seven minutes left in the match.

Following the goal, Case was unable to generate any significant chances as Emory kept control of the ball in the Spartan end of the field.

Statistically the match was fairly even as Emory edged the Spartans in shots (10-9) and corners (10-5) with each team posting three shots on goal.