The Brandeis hockey club started the month on a terrible note, being outscored 24-0 in a two game stretch of New England Senior Hockey League (NESHL) games. The team dramatically reversed its course last week, winning 5-4 in an NESHL game and then crushing Becker College 11-3 on Saturday night.Becker, dressed in New York Rangers colors, was 0-8 against college teams last year. Its lone victory this year was an overtime affair against the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), a team which the Judges beat in overtime last year.

The game, which was played in Marlborough, was the first the Judges played before a crowd this season. About 50 fans from Becker and five from Brandeis showed up to see the physical affair. This was not the first encounter between the two teams. Brandeis and Becker met once before, in an affair organized by Jason Cohen '02.

"We played as a team and worked hard the whole game," Assistant Captain Jeff Kleinhaus '04 said. "We came into this game ready to play. We played smart hockey through out and seemed to always stick to our positions. Brandeis came into their house and made them feel our presence."

In the first period, the Judges jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a goal by Jeremy Kuzmarov (GRAD) on the game's first shift. Brandeis extended the lead to 2-0 before ending the period with a 2-1 lead.

Kuzmarov, who finished the game with his first hat trick of the season, said, "It was a blast playing full contact. we adjusted well, took the hits when we had to."

The Judges scored six straight goals in the second period, going into intermission with a commanding 8-1 lead.

Between periods, in the locker room, the team agreed that they wanted to ensure a solid lead, but did not want to run-up the score.

The agreement got lost in the heat of the game. Rob Friedman '06 buried the first goal of the period, completing the hat trick. "Levine made an awesome play, coming in on the right-wing side, to set me up in front of the goal for a one-time snap-shot through the five-hole," Friedman said. Levine later scored the team's 11th goal.

"We beat them in every part of the game," Levine said. "We couldn't stop scoring even when we were telling each other not to score."

Eric Kluger '04 notched his first goal of the year on an accurate wrist shot that beat the goalie glove-side. Zach Goldman '04 got the assist. "Playing defense, you don't get as many opportunities to score," Kluger said. "It was nice to finally get one."

Goldman also scored his first of the season.

The Becker coach made an number of unusual decisions during the course of the game.

The coach called time out with 45 seconds left in the game, despite being down by eight goals.

The coach also employed three goalies. The starting goalie was pulled mid-way through the second period, after giving up his fourth goal. The second goalie, the first female goalie Brandeis has ever played against, let up two more goals before giving way to a third goalie who finished out the second period. In the third period, Becker went back to its starter.

Brandeis' net was defended by Justin "Credible" Stratton, who made a number of tough saves in the third period to maintain the shelling. He appears unaffected by the 24 goals against in two games.

Overall, the Becker team played a more physical game than it did a finesse one. On many occasions, Becker players went for the hit rather than for the puck. This was also the case for Becker defensemen who went for the body, allowing the puck to get deeper in the zone, leading to goals.

From the drop of the puck that both teams came to hit each other, and to hit hard. The fans enjoyed all the open ice hits, cheering loudly after many of the more devastating collisions.