At a recent practice, Coach Mike Coven ran shirtless up and down the field, screaming instructions at the players all around him."I'm going to be out there with my shirt off all season long," Coven said. "I'm going to show these guys that old men can not only look good, but play good too."

It was mid-afternoon, the sun was overhead and the heat was blistering. School had yet to begin officially, but the men's soccer team was already hard at work. About 35 players flooded the soccer field, about 10 of whom will not make the roster. Following a season in which the Judges qualified for the ECAC tournament but fell short of winning it, Coven has high expectations for his players, both young and old.

"You never know, but I'd like to win a national championship," Coven said. "So much depends on leadership, staying healthy and players getting better. I'd like us to win 14 or 15 games. There's enough talent here to win some soccer games."

"We've got good people coming in," co-captain Joe Jorge '05 said. "I think we can win the whole conference. We just want to win so bad."

The Judges have a roster filled with potential, but the team will have to overcome playing in the UAA Conference, recently ranked as the most competitive in the nation for Division III soccer.

Yuval Ezer '07 is one player who hopes to catapult the Judges over a difficult schedule. Originally from Rishon Lezioh in Israel, Ezer played for the University of Connecticut last season and hopes to be Shelton Stewart's '06 first legitimate set-up man. Stewart is 13th on the Brandeis all-time scoring list and has had a splendid career to date, but has too often been forced to create his own shots. Ezer, a six-foot midfielder, is expected to create some shots for an already excellent scorer.

"This kid can play," Coven said of Ezer. "He's plays at a high level, he sees the field. [Stewart] is one of the finest players we've ever at Brandeis and [Ezer] should really help him. I would expect [Stewart's] scoring production to go up."

"[Ezer] can do wonderful things," Stewart said. "He can pass the ball well and we get along great off the field."

When asked where he will sit on the all-time scoring list in two years, Shelton shrugs.

"Hopefully I will be number one, but I'm playing for the team."

Playing Division III soccer should be a pleasant change for Ezer after coming from one of the more competitive soccer programs in the region.

"Division I is pretty tough," Ezer said. "[Stewart] and I have pretty good communication so far. We're going to be a good team."

This team seems to have more firepower than recent Judges teams, but will have to overcome holes in the defense left by recently graduated Dom Martignetti, Kevin Alvezi and goal-keeper Ben Doyen-Charon. Although improving sophomores such as Scott Zacharoff hope to fill the void and the goalie situation is up in the air, Coven is excited about his rebuilt midfield.

"For the first time we should have a team that can dominate the middle third of the field," Coven said. "The team that dominates the middle third wins."

The Judges open their season on the road next Monday against Endicott College before playing two games at home against Wenthworth Tech and Clark University. The Judges open conference play on Oct. 2 on the road against the University of Rochester.