Prior to the season, men's soccer coach Mike Coven was unsure of his team's fate.

Last year, Brandeis put together a solid 15-5-1 record and won its second consecutive Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship. However, Coven said that the graduation of a trio of All-New England players-central midfielder Theo Terris '12 and center backs Ari Silver '12 and David McCoy '12-could jeopardize the team's chances for success this year.

Little did he know that his team would be better than they were last year after the season's first 15 games.

The success is in large part due to the senior offensive partnership of Sam Ocel '13 and Lee Russo '13. The duo has racked up 17 goals and 11 assists, helping the Judges to a 13-1-1 record. Russo leads the squad with 11 goals, while Ocel has notched a team-high eight assists.

Their selflessness, work ethic and desire to succeed are evident.

Russo said in an interview that he'd much rather the team win and him go scoreless than the opposite.

"There is no supporting cast on our team," said Russo. "On any given day, any player on the field can be our best player."
Ocel cited the team's change in mentality as a big difference between the success this year and that of the last campaign.
"Last year, I don't think we ever won a game in which we were scored upon," he said.

His estimation wasn't far off, as the Judges' 2-1 victory over Carnegie Mellon University on Oct. 30, 2011 was the only in which the squad emerged victorious after having its defense-which was admittedly stingy, conceding 10 goals in 21 games-breached.

"We'd hang our heads," Ocel said. "This year, we've had four games where we've been down and come back to win."
While Ocel is listed as a midfielder and Russo as a forward, each has proven interchangeable in the Judges' attack-minded 4-3-3 lineup.

"Our style involves moving around a lot," said Russo, pointing out that he will often go back and help out in the middle of the park while Ocel bombs forward with regularity. "It's good because it confuses the other teams when you can switch on the fly."

Russo and Ocel are also close friends off the field and have shared plenty of advice with each other.

"This guy has taught me a bunch of stuff I can do away from the field," Russo said. "Like, I had no idea what an agility ladder was before I came here. Now, I use it all the time."

Likewise, Ocel talked of the duo emerging through hardship as a key component of their relationship. "We've come a long way since freshman year," he said. "We only won six games our freshman year, so to come out here and be having a good season is really rewarding."

Yet, despite the good fortunes thus far this season, neither is taking anything for granted.

"We always have the mentality of one game at a time," said Ocel. "We're not looking past our game against Mount Ida next Wednesday."

"We want to make the [NCAA Division III] Tournament," Russo said, "but we're trying to stay focused and not get ahead of ourselves."

With an arsenal of skills and fearless determination, there is a great chance that they could achieve that.