The Judges mens soccer team kicked off its home schedule on Tuesday with a dominating 4-0 win over non-conference opponent Worcester Polytechnic Institute. This was the Judges first game on the newly-renovated A-Turf surface on Gordon Field.
Brandeis scored early in the game to take the 1-0 lead. After Ben Premo 09 was brought down from behind with 5:57 into the game, Shelton Stewart 06 scored on a penalty kick to the right corner of the goal. The Judges dominated play much of the first half, shooting six more shots but went into the half with only a 1-0 lead.

In the 56th minute, Mike Snyder 07 increased the lead by scoring his second goal of the season. He was assisted by Premo 09 and Stewart 06. It was still a close game at that point, Snyder said after the game. [The goal] was big for us.

Premo added a goal in the 62nd minute, scoring his 5th of the season. Coach Mike Coven praised Premo, calling him a special player. He said that Brandeis is lucky to have him because he was recruited by many schools in the region. Coven also believes he is a future All-American.

Yoni Litwok 07 closed out the scoring in the 70th minute, chipping the ball over the WPI goalkeeper to score the 4th goal of the game. Brandeis goalkeepers Pat Makridakis 06 and Jake Knoll 08 made seven saves to help lead Brandeis to its second shutout of the season. Coven summed up the win, If you get the win and the shutout, its a nice day.

With his three points that day, Stewart now has 97 for his career. With three more points, he will become just the fourth 100-point scorer in Brandeis history. Stewart, however, focuses on the team rather than his own personal achievements. The team is on a highit was a convincing win. We played a nice brand of soccer and forced our opponents to work harder than usual, he exclaimed.

The Brandeis team remains undefeated at 4-0 as it goes into tomorrows game against 20th ranked (Division III National poll) Babson College at Wellesley, MA. We couldnt ask for a better way to start the season, Snyder 07 commented.

Coven knows that tomorrows opponent will be the biggest test of the year. It will be a tough match;

well have to match them physically, he commented. Premo 09 believes that tomorrows game against Babson will be the first of many tough tests for the Judges.

The first few games were against weaker teams. The schedule gets harder…it would be great to stay undefeated.

For the first time since 1997, Brandeis has gotten off to a 4-0 start.