The Judges took out down the MIT Engineers 2-1 on Wednesday night and finally cracked into the win column. Before the game MIT had outscored their opponents 24-9 on the season. When Brandeis faced the same opponent last year they were defeated 5-0, so for Coach Coven this victory was exactly what his team needed.

“It showed us we can play with good teams,” he told The Hoot. “We just need to concentrate on what we’ve done in practice.”

Brandeis opened up the scoring in the 28th minute off a free kick by Corey Bradley ’10. Rookie Sam Ocel then sent the ball across the goal to classmate Matt Peabody who put it in the net for his first collegiate goal. This was the only goal of the first half.

The Engineers tied things up in the 58th minutes off a penalty kick by Christian Therkelsen, one of the players Assistant Coach Gabe Margolis told the Judges to keep an eye on in his scouting report. Therkelsen took two corner kicks that were deflected out by the Judges, but unfortunately third time was a charm: the ball found it’s mark and MIT’s Ben Lewis ’13 was there to send the ball past Brandeis netminder Matt Lynch ’11 for his first collegiate goal.

MIT didn’t hold on for long, though. The game-winning goal for the Judges came just ten minutes later courtesy of Alexander Farr ’12. Luke Teece ’12 got the ball off a corner kick by classmate Noah Bass and went for the shot and Farr deflected it with a header past Rankin for the goal. Despite an offensive push by the Engineers in the final twenty minutes of the game, Lynch was able to hold onto the lead for the Judges and help them bring home their first win of the season.

While the Judges got one goal in the first half, they weren’t playing the cleanest game. When they came out for the second, however, something seemed to click; they started moving better and playing more like a team. Coach Coven chalked this up to simply getting more time playing together. Injuries have prevented his preferred starters from working together for long, so the more time they have on the field the more efficiently they work as one.

“They’re more like a well oiled machine,” Coach Coven said. “They work together well.”

Despite the rocky start to the season, according to Assistant Coach Margolis, the guys on the team never gave up.

“It’s a real credit to them,” he told The Hoot. “They were in a hole but there was never talk of not being good enough… They still have to work and they know that, but they’re attitude has been great.”

Both Coach Coven and Assistant Coach Margolis were very happy to see the two goals of the game come from multiple scorers. In the past, it was much more a one-man show. Thanks to “two good recruiting years,” though, this has changed.

“85 percent of our goals were by [Ben] Premo ’09,” Coach Coven said. “Now we need your players with the ability to score, and we’ve got them.”

The Judges have a few days to recuperate physically and mentally before taking on one of their favorite rivals: Wheaton College. Not only is Coach Coven good friends with the head coach at Wheaton, Dr. Michael Guiliano, but Coach Margolis also went to Wheaton, and he would love to have a win against his alma mater.

There are local players on both teams,” Coach Coven added. “They’re used to each other, some of them used to play together, so that adds something as well.”

The familiarity between the teams is something Coach Coven hopes will benefit Brandeis. Wheaton has “a unique formation” but given the circumstances he believes the Judges can pull through against what he describes as, “possibly the best team we face all year.”

Student Events will be hosting a tailgate party on Saturday at 6 PM to support the men’s soccer team. They will be supplying free hamburgers, hotdogs, popcorn, and s’mores as well as a chance to tie-dye a shirt. Both coaches encourage students to come out to the game and enjoy the rivalry.