The men’s soccer team has a chance to even out its record this weekend, when the Bulldogs travel to Providence, R.I., to play a pair of matches in the Brown Classic.

After opening their season with two losses, Yale (0–2) faces Hofstra (1–2) tonight and South Carolina (2–1) Sunday. Coming off a double-overtime loss at Fairfield on Tuesday night, in which they let a 1–0 lead slip away, the Elis will look to bounce back from the deflating defeat and put it behind them.

“The overtime loss was a disappointment to the whole team, but we have already watched the film and learned from the experience,” forward Peter Jacobson ’14 said. “We are ready to move on and prevent the same situation from happening again.”

The Hofstra Pride are coming off a Labor Day weekend split. After coming from behind and beating Iona 2–1, the Pride finished the weekend with a 2–0 loss against Saint Peter’s.

Tonight’s match will feature a host of young impact players on both sides. The Bulldogs have six freshmen on the roster, while the Pride started five freshmen in their win against Iona. The Elis will also use tonight’s game to exercise the work they have put into their offensive game in practice so far this season.

“We have really focused on how to be more dangerous in the final third,” midfielder Eric Meyer ’11 said. “We have studied our previous games to analyze the decisions we made around the box.”

Aside from being more of an offensive threat, the Bulldogs will seek to accomplish the same goal they have had all season: to resist catering to the opponent and to continue to play their game of possession.

“We will correct the mistakes we made against Fairfield,” midfielder Sebastian Serra ’11 said. “We have to keep our game going with possession and an attacking mentality but also make sure we have the back secure and won’t let up easy goals.”

The Elis will have Saturday off to prepare for their second game of the Classic, against South Carolina on Sunday. The Gamecocks are entering the Classic off a 2–0 win against Clemson last weekend and will play host Brown on Friday.

In addition to hoping to add two wins to their record, the Bulldogs will use the weekend to add more game experience for the less seasoned players while focusing on creating more scoring opportunities — something the team thinks it needs to do more often.

“They are both competitive teams,” Serra said of Hofstra and South Carolina. “I think they will be tough games, but they are also very winnable. And I think we are going to go after it as best as we can.”

The Bulldogs face Hofstra tonight at 5 p.m. and South Carolina at noon Sunday.