In a season filled with frustrating losses and ties, big wins have always been just out of reach for the men's soccer team. But Sunday at Gordon field, the Judges finally notched the breakthrough victory they'd been looking for, defeating Emory University, the 17th-ranked team in the nation 1-0 behind midfielder Mike Snyder's '07 second-half goal. The Judges also defeated Newbury College 2-1 Tuesday and fell to Carnegie Mellon University Friday 2-0, bringing their overall record to 6-5-3 and University Athletic Association mark to 1-2."We've been working hard, but we just haven't been getting the results," Snyder said. "To finally have it pay off for us, it's just a great feeling."

Prior to Sunday, the Judges had defeated several overmatched squads, but had not notched a victory against a superior opponent, despite recording three ties against ranked teams.

Snyder was able to break a scoreless tie with his third goal of the season, also his second game-winner, fifteen minutes into the second half. Rookie midfielder Billy Murphy '10 headed the ball into the box, which bounced around before Snyder retrieved it and shot it toward the goal. Eagle junior goalkeeper Keith Meehan deflected the shot and sent the ball back in the box, whereupon Snyder drove it past several Eagle defenders into the right side of the net.

"It wasn't a pretty, but a goal's a goal," coach Michael Coven said. The Judges' offense was in particularly in synch against Emory, making solid passes and finding numerous scoring opportunities.

"We possessed the ball most of the game, and it was very good teamwork," midfielder Yuval Ezer '07 said.

After taking the 1-0 advantage, the Judges were able to protect the lead behind the stellar play of goalkeeper Taylor Bracken '10. Four of his season-high 13 saves came within the last 15 minutes of the game.

In the 76th minute, Eagle senior midfielder Tai Doan blasted a shot from a corner kick that Bracken knocked away.

Seven minutes later, Bracken made another diving save off a corner kick.

"[Bracken] was phenomenal," Coven said. "In the 34 years I've been here, this was one of the best goalkeeping performances I've seen."

The Judges improved their consistency throughout the game against Emory.

"We played for 90 minutes," forward Ben Premo '09 said. "We haven't played 90 minutes all year but today we just put it all together."

In many other games this season, the team has shown a tendency to fall behind early and increase their level of play later on, sometimes too late.

This habit was no more evident than on Friday against Carnegie Melon, when the team surrendered a goal less than two minutes into the game. Although the Judges did fight back, they ultimately fell to the nationally ranked Tartans 2-0.

Coven made several lineup changes against Emory to buck this trend. He used a more offensive-minded 3-4-3 formation, with Premo as the center attacker and Snyder and Ezer at the flanks. Previously, both Snyder and Ezer had played midfield, but Coven said both players had their best games all season as forwards.

Coven was pleased in particular with Snyder's elevated level of play this season.

"[Snyder] is really come into his own his senior year," he said.

After the team's biggest victory of the season, Coven is cautiously optimistic. If the team can continue playing like it did against Emory, Coven believes it can make a run at postseason play.

"If we win the next three UAA games, we'll be in contention for a championship," he said. "I don't know how realistic that is, but we have a very good team and I think we can play with anybody."

The Judges play their final two home games this week against Springfield College Wednesday at 7 p.m. and Colby-Sawyer College Sunday at 3 p.m.