Despite ending the regular season with a 2-0 victory over New York University last Saturday and a 12-5-1 record overall, the men's soccer team still missed qualifying for the Division III NCAA Tournament. Instead, the team is the top seed in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Tournament and will take on eighth-seeded Southern Vermont College at home tomorrow at 7 p.m.

"The last few years there have been four at-large bids [to NCAAs] given to New England teams, and this year we only got three," coach Mike Coven said. "We would have had a good chance of getting that fourth spot—it would have been Brandeis or Williams [College]—but it wasn't there this year."

Unlike other occasions this season in which the Brandeis offense has taken a while to click, the Judges wasted no time in getting on the board against NYU, as forward Sam Ocel '13 scored twice within the first eight minutes.

With just five minutes on the clock, Brandeis forward Lee Russo '13 took a corner kick. His serve found midfielder Kyle Feather '14, who flicked the ball on toward the back post. Though it appeared that the chance would be wasted, Ocel arrived and slammed a volley past freshman goalkeeper Forrest Sexton and into the net for the first score of the game.

The Judges did not let off the gas offensively, notching the team's second goal just three minutes later. Midfielder Theo Terris '12, often the orchestrator of the Brandeis attacks, dribbled down the right flank. The senior kept his composure under pressure, sending a cross to the back post, where Ocel nodded it into the top corner for a two-goal advantage.

Despite possessing a commanding 2-0 edge, Coven noted that the Judges found themselves on the ropes at various points throughout the game.

"We played a bit direct at times," the coach said in reference to the team's use of long balls, "but luckily they weren't able to take advantage of that."

Though the offense shone in this match, Coven was quick to praise those in the defensive third of the field, most notably goalkeeper Blake Minchoff '13, who racked up his 10th career shutout, tying the school single-season record.

Coven also had good words for the centerback tandem of Ari Silver '12 and David McCoy '12, who Coven stated were "two of the best players that Brandeis has ever had."

The duo's leadership has also had a huge influence on the rest of the team's performance. In an Oct. 30 interview with the Justice, Russo explained that "[Silver] reads the game very well—he's ten steps ahead of you—and McCoy is a great tackler. It's great to know that they're back there even if they don't get a lot of press."

But despite the win, Brandeis finds itself in ECACs instead of the NCAA Tournament.

"You feel bad for the boys because they worked so hard, but we made our own bed," Coven said. "We lost to Babson [College] in a game we dominated. We lost to Clark [University]. We lost to [Washington University in St. Louis]. We lost to some teams that we shouldn't have lost to. Obviously I'm disappointed, but I'm not surprised at all."

Still, Coven was pleased with how the team has played this season. "This team has a lot of character," he said. "We have great upperclassmen leadership. And they're great, great people."

If the Judges win tomorrow night, they will host the ECAC semifinals and finals on Saturday and Sunday.

"We won that last year, so we'd like to do well again," Coven said.

                                                                                                                        —Jeffrey Boxer contributed reporting.