WORCESTER-The men's soccer team outlasted Clark University 3-2 on Saturday behind surging offensive output and a late-game defensive stand, coming away from its third straight road game with the program's first 3-0 start since 1997. The win followed the Judges' 6-1 drubbing of Wentworth College on Thursday.The Judges held second half leads of 2-0 and 3-1 on Saturday, but the Cougars stayed close with two clutch goals by Clark sophomore forward David Blum. The Judges' defense held off the Cougars' offensive pressure in the waning minutes to secure the win.

"They scored a goal with [three minutes] left, and we just dug down deep," coach Mike Coven said. "It just shows that this team, not only does it have a lot of skill, but it has a lot of heart and they play with a lot of passion ... this is a very good group."

Coming off a hat trick in the Judges' win on Thursday, Ben Premo '09 registered a goal and an assist. Premo leads the team in scoring with four goals and one assist.

Captain Shelton Stewart '06 started off the scoring for Brandeis, capitalizing on a penalty kick opportunity to score the only goal of the first half on a far-corner blast. After some aggressive midfield play in the second half resulted in a breakaway down the left line, Premo pulled an ankle-breaker on the last defender in the left side of the box before depositing the ball in the right corner.

With the game tightened at 2-1 on a Blum penalty kick, Charles Goodhue's '06 head found a Premo blast from the corner to put the Judges back up by two.

The 3-1 lead was challenged by an aggressive Clark attack which eventually lead to an acrobatic backward header by Blum off an assist from junior Chase Roberge. The pressure continued in the last few minutes, with Clark effectively winning the midfield battle and getting the ball in scoring position.

The back line, hurt by the absence of captain Scott Zackaroff '07-who was out from the lineup with a knee injury-stood tough in the end and prevented a Clark goal. With one minute left in the game, the Judges were called for holding, giving the Cougars a direct kick from a few feet outside of the box. The shot ended up sailing a few inches over the crossbar, and the Judges held on to retain the win.

With Zackaroff out of the lineup, Brett Fitzgerald '08 stepped in at the middle defensive position. Steward, the defensive anchor at the sweeper position, said that there was a noticeable drop off with Zackaroff out.

"You can't really replace a player like Scott at this level," Steward said. "He gives us a great level of toughness in the middle of the field. But I think Fitzgerald stepped up very well."

Goalie Pat Makridakis '06, who was named UAA defensive player of the week last week, said that Stewart's move to the sweeper position has energized the defense.

"The defense is much better," Makridakis said. "We haven't started off this strong in the past few years. It's much more comfortable with Shelton as sweeper."

Premo's three goals during the Judges' win on Thursday in only his second collegiate game put him in the record books for the second fastest hat trick in Division III history, needing only seven minutes and 35 seconds.

Zackaroff expects to be back in the line-up for today's home opener against WPI. Coven said that he is anticipating the improvement in the midfield that Zackaroff will bring with his return.

"Scotty wins the ball in the middle of the field," Coven said. "Once we get him back and we have the physical presence in the middle of the field, [the midfield problems] will go away."

The Judges host the Engineers today at 4 p.m. before taking on Babson College in Wellesley on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.