The men's soccer team hasn't had many reasons to celebrate the past few years. But in the waning seconds of the ECAC New England championship game Sunday, the players dumped a water cooler on coach Mike Coven's head to put the exclamation point on their 5-3 home victory over New England College."My first three years here we were an average team," captain Scott Zackaroff

'07 said. "This year, we just gelled late in the season. We knew we could do something special and today we proved that."

In a game played in rainy and slippery conditions, the fourth-seeded Judges dominated the seventh-seeded Pilgrims on offense, with Mike Snyder '07 leading the way with two goals. His three goals in the tournament earned him the tournament's Most Valuable Player award.

"You can't really ask for a better way to go out," Snyder said.

The past few seasons have been marked with unfulfilled potential for the Judges. The team hadn't been to the postseason since 2003 and hadn't won a playoff game since 1998.

"This win vindicated everything," Coven said.

Sunday's game looked like a shootout from the start, with the Pilgrims scoring the first goal less than four minutes in. Junior defender Nel Lima took a free kick from senior forward John Bavota and headed it right into the goal.

But the Judges retaliated just two minutes later on Snyder's first goal, when he intercepted a Pilgrim attempt to clear the ball, took a few touches and sent the ball perfectly into the right corner of the net.

Six minutes later, the Judges took the lead for good. Forward Ben Premo '09 passed the ball to Zackaroff, who sent a rocket to the goal from 20 yards out. The ball slipped through the hands of junior goalkeeper Nick Kropelin and trickled into the corner of the goal.

"I'm not a very selfish player, but it felt nice in my last game to get a goal that mattered," Zackaroff said.

The Judges took a 3-1 lead on Snyder's second score, but let up a goal after Bovata knocked in the rebound off his penalty shot to bring the score to 3-2.

But after Fitzgerald responded by knocking in a penalty kick of his own and rookie midfielder Alex Zenerovitz '10 tallied his first collegiate goal, the Judges entered halftime with a commanding 5-2 lead.

"The weather was awful, and anything could change," Zackaroff said.

"But with a three-goal lead we knew that if we did what we were coached to do, no one would beat us."

The Judges' only second-half miscue came when midfielder Billy Murphy '10 was issued a red card with 22 minutes remaining, forcing the Judges to play a man down the rest of the game. Murphy was also forced to sit out next season's opener.

With 17 minutes remaining, that one-man advantage paid off for the Pilgrims, as junior midfielder James Palumbo sent a shot from 20 yards out that deflected off a Brandeis defender into the goal.

But leading 5-3 with less than 20 minutes remaining, the Judges' lead was safe.

On the final blow of the whistle, the players rushed the field and rejoiced in their first ECAC championship since 1994.

"It's been disappointing these past couple years, but to finally have our potential come together is just great," Snyder said.

The slippery conditions made it difficult to play possession soccer, but Coven was happy with the team's performance given the weather.

"It was a sloppy game," he said. "For a championship game in these conditions, we played well enough to score five goals and win the New England Championship."

Pilgrims coach Dave DeCew was impressed with Brandeis' level of play and athleticism, admitting the Judges dominated the game.

"Brandeis put a lot of pressure on us, and we had a hard time dealing with their athleticism and ability," Decew said.

"They were smart [and] just outplayed us."

But DeCew, who is a good friend of Coven's, was able to be happy for the Judges amidst the disappointment for his own team.

"I hate to lose, but there's not a coach I'd rather lose to," he said.

On the way to the ECAC title game, the Judges showed why they deserved to hoist the championship plaque.

Despite a sluggish offensive performance Tuesday against Plymouth state in the quarterfinals, Premo scored an early goal and the defense held up for the 1-0 victory.

On Saturday, against rival and top-seeded Babson College, whom the Judges tied earlier in the season, Premo scored in the 12th minute and Snyder followed up eight minutes later to give the Judges an early 2-0 lead.

The Beavers tallied one score with nine minutes remaining in the game, but the Judges held on for the chance to play in the final.

While the excitement of the championship hasn't faded yet, younger players are already excited about next year's team, when they hope to build on this season's success and make a run at the NCAA tournament.

"The sky's the limit for this team," Premo said.

As for Coven, he believes this victory was the beginning of a new era of Brandeis soccer.

"We've come a long way," Coven said.

"This is a first step in bringing back Brandeis soccer to national prominence.