On a rainy Sunday, the fans awaited the final countdown and at last, let out a cheer as the Brandeis Judges completed their season, toppling seventh ranked New England College 5-3 to take the ECAC Championship. For the first time since 1994, the Brandeis Judges were the ECAC Champions. The score was close and the game, like the weather, was sloppy and at times, ugly, but the Judges pulled through when it counted.
NEC took the lead early in the contest at the 3:41 when headed in a free kick from John Bavota. Mike Snyder 07 provided the answer just two minutes later, intercepting a clearing attempt to tie the game. The slippery conditions played a major role six minutes as Scott Zackaroffs 07 twenty yard shot went through NEC goalie Nick Kropelins hands to give the Judges the lead. Snyder helped put the game out of reach at 23:15 when he flicked in a long pass from Joe Levitan 08 to give the Judges the 3-1 lead. NEC later cut the lead to 3-2 but goals from Brett Fitzgerald 08 (on a penalty kick) and Alex Zenerovitz 10 within thirty seconds of each other gave the Judges all the goals they would need. Fitzgerald and Zenerovitzs goals came against NEC back up Chris Corwin who entered the game after Kropelin gave up the third tally.
Brandeis out-shot NEC 16-13 with 13 of their shots coming in the first half. Taylor Bracken 10 earned the win with three stops and each side had three corner kicks apiece and 16 fouls as well.
The game was an ugly affair for all involved. Each side earned three yellow cards and rookie Billy Murphy 10 ended his debut season on a very sour note with a red card ejection at the 68th minute hell have a one-game suspension starting next season.
The championship would not have been possible were it not for Brandeis upsetting the number one seed Babson at Babson College 2-1. Mike Snyder delivered a blistering shot that was stopped by Babson keeper Chris Necklas but the rebound went to the waiting feet of Ben Premo 09 . Snyder added another goal at 20:48 after a beautiful pass by Yuval Ezar 07 set up the breakaway tally. Babson cut the lead to one when a defender accidently knocked a crossing pass into the net. That would be all she wrote as Taylor Bracken made a terrific save with 30 seconds left and the Judges would complete the championship run against NEC. Brandeis outshot Babson 17-5 in the match and held an 8-3 advantage in corner kicks.
Mike Snyder was awarded tournament MVP, with a team leading three goals in tournament play. It was an excellent end to an excellent season and career where he just came from nowhere to finish behind only Premo in team scoring. It was also the last games for Scott Zackaroff, Yuval Ezar, Jordan Skolnick 06, Jason Ring 06 and David Spear 06.
With the season done and an ECAC Championship under their belts, the team will gear up for next season. Hopefully, with a better showing in UAA play, mens soccer can compete in the NCAAs.
