After Springfield College junior goalkeeper Kevin Leahy dropped the ball on the edge of the 18-foot goal box, men's soccer team forward Ben Premo '09 took the ball and pivoted among the defenders to situate himself into shooting position. He then fired the ball into the side of the net, breaking a scoreless tie in the 28th minute of last Wednesday night's home game. Premo's goal gave Brandeis a 1-0 lead, one they would not relinquish en route to a 2-0 victory. The win snapped a seven-game winless streak for the Judges, a stretch in which they only scored four goals total. The Judges are now 7-6-2 with four games remaining.

"It looked like it was really easy, but in that situation, to be surrounded by the goalkeeper and defenders, [Premo] had the composure to keep possession and turn perfectly to place the ball into the side of the net," coach Mike Coven said. "A lot of other players would have shot that ball wide and high, so [Premo] did a nice job."

Premo's ninth goal of the season put him in sole possession of fifth place on the Judges' all-time scoring list with 37 goals and 95 points.

"Most of those numbers came in my first two seasons, and right now I feel I'll appreciate this all more when I'm older," Premo said. "I guess it's nice to see your name listed there, but I haven't been to an NCAA tournament in my career, and that's something that would have been more important."

Brandeis added its second goal of the game in the 52nd minute when midfielder Jaime Batista '10 won a ball in the midfield and gave midfielder Patrick Metelus '10 a lead pass up the sideline. Metelus fed the ball back across the goal area to a cutting Batista, who finished the play for his second goal in as many games.

Goalie Matt Lynch '11, starting his fourth game of the season, made all five saves that came his way.

Coven said that the team will continue to alternate goalkeepers between Lynch and Sean O'Hare '12, who originally won the job earlier in the season. Last year's starter, Taylor Bracken '10, is no longer on the roster.

"We're fortunate to have two very good goalkeepers," Coven said.

"Sometimes both of them can look better than the other, but they're both playing very well. I have confidence in both of them, so we'll just keep alternating them until one of them proves to step up over the other."

The team hopes to qualify for the Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament and regain the championship the squad won in 2006. The ECAC selection committee only considers teams with records of .500 or better, making the final stretch of the Judges' season critical for their postseason hopes.

"This game and our next one against Lasell are must-wins for us," defender Kevin Murphy '09 said.

"We have three tough [University Athletic Association] games after Lasell, so we need to pick up wins where we can in order to get a spot in the ECACs."

The Judges travel to Lasell College today for a 3 p.m. game and then play two of the remaining three University Athletic Association games at home next weekend. The first game is against Emory University Oct. 31 at 7:30 p.m., and the second is against Carnegie Mellon University Nov. 2 at 1:30 p.m. The Judges end the season at New York University Nov. 8.

Murphy said he believes the team will, in fact, reach the ECAC tournament for the second time in three years.

"This is the most confident I've been in the UAA since I've been here," he said. "I don't think there's been a game in the UAA, with the exception of the one against Rochester, where we weren't in the game. This is one of the most competitive teams in the UAA we've had since I've been here. We've played everybody tough, so I'd say we're real confident going into the final games.