The NCAA tournament for division three men’s soccer began on Friday where the number-18 ranked Brandeis Judges faced the Stevens Institute of Technology Ducks at home. Entering the game, a concern for the Judges was their ongoing cold stretch, not having won a game since Oct. 18 and going 0-2-2 in the time since then. The Brandeis Men’s soccer team’s results have come in streaks; the Judges opened the season going nine games undefeated, but two of the three losses on the season came back-to-back against Carnegie Mellon University and University of Chicago. Meanwhile, the Ducks entered Friday on a four-game winning streak to bring their record to 9-4-6 in time for the tournament.

Stevens struck first in the 36th minute when Emerson Kekesi was able to clean up a blocked shot for his team-leading 11th goal of the season. The Judges punched back quickly with Nico Beninda ’26 notching his sixth goal of the season off an assist from Elan Romo ’26 in the 41st minute. The score was tied at 1-1 entering the half with the Judges squarely holding the momentum off of their quick response.

The second half tested both teams’ goalkeepers with both teams taking more shots and playing with more aggression. As a result of this change in playstyle, Stevens struggled with fouls, recording eight compared to Brandeis’ four. Two Stevens players were also issued yellow cards early in the second half, one in the 61st minute and another in the 67th. The Judges broke the stalemate, with Keller Chamovitz ’27 scoring off of a corner kick by Langston Byrd ’29 to bring the score to 2-1 in the 83rd minute. From there, Brandeis goalkeeper Tyler Correnti ’26 saved four shots and kept a clean sheet in the second half. The game ended with a 2-1 final score and the Judges moving on to face the number one ranked Tufts University Jumbos on Saturday afternoon.

Tufts put a 5-0 beating on Penn State University-Harrisburg on Friday, with a two-goal first half from defender Bijan Akhtarzandi-Das being the story of the game. However, their matchup against the Judges proved to be far lower-scoring. Despite a total of 12 shots being taken in the first half, none of them found the back of the net and resulted in the half ending with the teams tied 0-0. The shooting onslaught continued into the second half for Tufts, attempting eight to Brandeis’ two. Tyler Correnti made four saves in the second half to keep the game scoreless through regulation, bringing the game into a sudden-death overtime, with the first team to score winning the game and moving on in the next round of the playoffs.

Once again, the Jumbos kept their foot on the gas, taking five shots in overtime compared to the Judges’ with just one. The score stayed frozen through the first 15-minute overtime period, meaning another overtime would be played. Unfortunately, Tufts junior Henry Brown netted a goal 55 seconds into the second overtime period off of an assist by senior James Gunn. 

Despite the loss, the team arguably put together their best two games of the season against very formidable opponents, truly showing up in the biggest moment of their season. Congratulations to the Brandeis Judges men’s soccer team on a great 2025 season and we look forward to an even better 2026.