The men's soccer team surged down the stretch last year to win their first East Coast Athletic Conference championship since 1994 but to achieve similar success this season, the Judges will have to overcome the loss of several key players.The list of departures includes forward Mike Snyder '07, the most valuable player of the ECAC tournament, and midfielder Yuval Ezer '07, whom coach Mike Coven called one of the best players to ever play soccer at Brandeis. The Judges will also be without two standout rookies from last season, as forward Billy Murphy '10 is taking a semester off to tend to personal problems he wouldn't disclose, and midfielder Justin Joyce '10 suffered a season-ending hamstring injury.

"[Murphy and Joyce] were both solid players and big bodies in the middle," midfielder Evan Duval '08 said. "We have to move on and find someone to fill the gap," he said.

The Judges lose a significant amount of offensive firepower from last season as Snyder, Ezer, and Murphy were the second, third and fourth leading scorers on the team, respectively, and accounted for 40 percent of the team's goals.

"I've had a lot of sleepless nights," Coven joked, responding to how he plans on replacing the offensive production.

Although the road back to the postseason won't be smooth, the Judges still have reason to believe they can contend. Forward Ben Premo '09, a 2006 first team all-University Athletic Association selection, returns to lead their attack. He led the Judges in goals (16), assists (10) and points (42) last season. Coven hopes the trio of Duval and rookies Mark Minevich '11 and Steve Keuchkarian '11 can complement the explosive Premo.

"Evan has the ability to come around like Snyder did [late in the season]," Coven said. "[The rookies] were both high scoring front runners for their high school and club teams. Between the two freshmen and Evan, we'll compensate for the loss. It'll be tough. We have our work cut out for us."

Goalie Taylor Bracken '10 also returns to anchor the defense. As a rookie, he had a .733 save percentage and recorded six shutouts.

Duval said the team's ultimate objective is to make the NCAA tournament. He stressed improving upon last year's 2-5 conference record as a key to earning that berth.

The Judges start the 2007 season September 1 with a 5 p.m. home game against Endicott. The first UAA game is against the University of Rochester at home Sept. 29.