The men's soccer team was able to temporarily quell any lingering doubts about its offensive attack early in its season opener against Endicott College at home last Saturday.Last season, the Judges scored a total of only 26 goals, never topping the three-goal plateau in any individual contest, but they began this season scoring two goals in the first 10 minutes of play en route to a 5-0 shutout of the Gulls.

Forward Ben Premo '09 led the way with his fourth career hat trick, notching his 29th, 30th, and 31st career goals along with his 81st career point, making him the eighth-highest scorer in team history. He has already eclipsed his two-goal season total from 2007.

Premo's first goal came just 3 minutes, 52 seconds into the match when he received a header from rookie midfielder Luke Teece '12 and shot the ball past Endicott rookie goalie Nicholas Allman into the back left side of the net.

Teece recorded his second assist less than five minutes later when he pushed the ball up the right side before feeding midfielder Patrick Metelus '10 with a pass that Metelus placed inside the near post to give the Judges the early two-goal lead.

"It's good to get off to a solid start and win like that," Teece said. "The first goal I set up was a halfway decent pass that was fortunate enough to get in, and then the second one was just hard work down the line. I just whipped it over and hoped for the best, and [Metelus] was there and he put it in."

Premo's re-emergence continued early in the second half. Less than four minutes in, midfielder Corey Bradley '10 centered a ball for Premo off the left side. Premo fired off the crossbar but then headed in his own rebound to put the Judges ahead 3-0.

Premo secured the hat trick in the 73rd minute when he got behind the defense and struck the ball into the back of the net. Rookie forward Alex Farr '12 was credited with the Judges' second goal in the 82nd minute.

"It feels good to start off like this," Premo said. "We're more enthusiastic about the season. Everyone's ready to go, and our energy is real high right now, along with our confidence."

Coach Mike Coven spoke highly of Premo and his senior captain's improved supporting cast after the game.

"When you've got Premo and Teece and Bradley providing him with chances to score, and Metelus behind him, that makes up a solid offensive group," Coven said,

"We could've scored three or four more with a little more luck. Their goalie made some good saves."

Still, Coven believed the Judges need more work on the defensive end.

"We made some mistakes in the back, and I feel a lot of other teams that we play this year would have capitalized on those opportunities," he said.

Coming into the season opener, it was unclear who would be the Judges' starting goalkeeper. Brandeis began the game with last year's starter Taylor Bracken '10 in net, but replaced him in the second half with Sean O'Hare '12, despite Bracken's scoreless first half.

Bracken and O'Hare each made two saves as Endicott was only able to take seven shots the entire game, compared to Brandeis' 22.

Coven said he wants to get both goalkeepers in-game experience and will turn to his coaching staff to make a final decision. He also did not rule out the possibility of Matt Lynch '11 getting more playing time and said he might continue with a goalie rotation.

"I think they're both neck-and-neck, and Lynch is breathing down both of their necks. I'd prefer not to do this all season, but we'll take it one game at a time and see what happens," he said.

While Coven acknowledged that the Judges made their share of miscues, he was satisfied with last Saturday's opener.

"Even though we played poorly at times and made some mistakes in the back we still shut [Endicott] out," he said.

"Our goalies made some good saves, and this whole team should feel good about themselves. We have 18 more to go, but I can sleep easy tonight."

The team plays at home against both the Wentworth Institute of Technology Thursday, Sept. 4 at 4 p.m. and Clark University Saturday, Sept. 6 at 1 p.m.