The men’s soccer team continued their unbeaten start to the season against Case Western Reserve University on Sunday, in a 1-0 victory, elevating them to a 10-0 record after beating No. 12 Wheaton College last Tuesday night. 

Sunday’s hard-earned victory marked the first game of the season for the Judges in University Athletic Association competition.

Both teams had chances in the first half of Sunday’s game as each team’s strikers came close to scoring, but two resolute goalkeepers in Joe Graffy ’15 and Case Western freshman goalkeeper Calvin Boyle proved incredibly hard to beat. 

The story of the second half was be analogous to that of the first, with neither side able to find the back of the net. A close-range Spartans free kick in the 65th minute came close to scoring, but Graffy acrobatically sprang across goal and punched the ball with one hand to deny a goal.

The game remained scoreless, but not for lack of trying. By the end of the 90 minutes, the Judges had recorded 13 shots on goal, while the Spartans had nine. 

The dramatics of this game had just begun, as the game headed into the first overtime period.

One period of overtime proved fruitless, despite an additional four shots on the Spartan goal for the Judges with no retaliation. Even as the game launched into its second overtime, the scores remained locked at a stoic 0-0. 

In the final moments of the final period, forward Tyler Savonen ’15 burst forward, weaved in and out of the box and was brought down inside the box. 

A penalty was given to the Judges, and Savonen placed the ball on the spot and launched it into the top corner with conviction. 

The Judges secured their hard fought 1-0 victory, with a little over 90 seconds left on the clock. 

Another match in this series of close encounters took place last Tuesday, where amidst a fierce battle of possession, physicality and nerves, the Judges nudged their way past familiar New England rivals, Wheaton College, in a 1-0 win. 

The Judges dominated the first half in the final third of the pitch, with their eight shots dwarfing Wheaton’s one but were found waiting for a decisive strike. 

Majority of possession was held in midfield with the occasional surge forward. Emotions were riding high through this contest because of the multitude of personal ties between players and staff on both sides, which gave rise to an extremely physical affair with four fouls in the opening five minutes.

“The boys all know each other, many of them play for the same summer league teams”, said coach Michael Coven. “Their coach, Matt Cushing, is my best friend and was my assistant here many years ago,” he added. 

After many crunching tackles and one cautionary booking, the grueling first half drew to a close, tied at zero. 

12 minutes after the restart, the Judges broke the deadlock through a deft sequence of wing-play. 

In the 58th minute, forward Evan Jastremski ’17 rushed down the right flank in a flurry of step-overs that flummoxed the opposing wingback before cleverly serving the ball into the box with the outside of his foot. Forward Michael Soboff ’15, the Judges leading goal-scorer, latched on to Jastremski’s pass,and coolly slotted the ball into the back of the net. 

In a post-match interview, a grinning Coven said that “the key to our success in the offense is the fact that our wingers aren’t afraid to go [one-on-one] against the opposing team’s defenders. 

“They’ve got flair and speed, and they showed that out there tonight,” he continued 

In the 65th minute, a shot from Wheaton freshman forward Amara Sesay ricocheted off a defender and seemed destined for the back of the net when defender Robbie Lynch ’15 soared in and cleared the ball off the line.

Wheaton did come close to scoring a couple more times, most noticeably in the final moments of the game, where a floating corner was delivered toward the bottom corner. However, Graffy dove across on cue and collected the ball in his arms, securing the victory for the home team. 

Tuesday’s meeting between the top-two ranked sides in New England was generously interspersed with heated exchanges, jostling between players and offensive-defensive prowess.

The Judges return to action tonight at 7 p.m. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, before traveling to the University of Rochester on Saturday in their second UAA matchup.