An offense is always better with everyone involved. With defenses all over the region keying in on the Judges' high scoring duo of Shelton Stewart '06 and Yuval Ezer '07, coach Mike Coven had been waiting for other players to step up into the attack. Coven's wishes were answered, as the Judges beat visiting Case Western Reserve 3-1 on Saturday. Evan Duval '08, Mike Pio '05 and Charles Goodhue '06 all scored goals. Following a loss to host MIT earlier in the week, the win snapped a three game losing streak, bringing the Judges to 6-5 for the season. Brandeis also jumped to 1-1 in the UAA Conference and sits in third place behind undefeated Rochester and New York University. The Judges hosted U-Mass Dartmouth yesterday in a game which ended too late for press.

The Judges struck early and often, scoring all three of their goals in the first half. In the sixth minute, Scott Zacharoff '07 collected a corner kick and fired it across the goal to Duval who finished the goal. It was Duval's second goal of the season and Zacharoff's third assist. Zacharoff has been key to the Judges' physical defense all season, while still finding ways to chip in on offense. The Judges struck again as co-captain Pio scored off an assist from Brian Bisceglia-Kane '05 in the 20th minute. The Judges scored once more in the 38th minute when a streaking David Spear '07 beat a defender and found Goodhue on the other side of the goal. Goodhue converted for his third goal of the season.

"The first half we played very well," Coven said. "We moved the ball well."

"We played pretty good," co-captain Joe Jorge '05 said. "We contained our men."

The Judges' defense was key, allowing the Spartans only seven shots the entire game. The Judges played physical with very few mental lapses, only allowing one shot on goal. Spartan freshman Justin Casella scored in the 56th minute when he gathered a ball in the box and shot it to the far post past Judges goalkeeper Matt Kaplan '05. It was an easy day for Kaplan who did not have to make any saves for his first win of the season.

"My defense, they got nothing but heart," Kaplan said. "They go to every ball and win almost every one. It makes my job a lot easier."

Before hosting the Case Western Reserve, the Judges traveled to Cambridge to face MIT on Wednesday. It was a difficult day for Brandeis as the team blew an early one-goal lead, eventually falling to Engineers 2-1. Both teams were scoreless in the first half, but stayed close on shots. The Engineers had a chance to score late in the half, but Brandeis goalkeeper Pat Madridakis '06 made an incredible save right at the goal line.

Ezer finally put the Judges on the board with a goal in the 61st minute, but MIT dominated most of the half. The Engineers outshot the Judges 14-6 in the second half, evening the score in the 74th minute and taking the lead for good with three minutes left. The game avenged a 2-0 loss for the Engineers last season, when the Judges were the only team to defeat MIT in the regular season

"We were just unlucky," Ezer said. "We need to be more [focused] in the box. We need to take advantage of opportunities."

The Judges enter a difficult week with much to improve on. Coven is most concerned about the team's tendency to come out flat in second halves. The team has had difficulty playing a consistent level of soccer for ninety minutes and Coven has been struggling to find the answer.

"The second half we really let down," Coven said. "We're not playing 90 minutes of soccer. We really come out flat in the second half, and then 20 minutes in we kick back in."

Coven has talked to the team and is convinced that the problem is not one of conditioning.

"I've asked the guys if they're tired and they're fine," Coven said. "It's something psychological. I told the guys I'm thinking of bringing in a team of psychologists to help with this."

When asked what the solution is, Coven shrugs and laughs.

"You tell me," Coven said, before turning to assistant coach Jack Gillis and asking, "How do we fix it, Jack?"

"Let me coach the second half and there won't be any problems," Gillis replied.

The Judges will need to play 90 minutes of soccer in what may be their hardest week of the season. The Judges begin a three-game road trip on Wednesday at Wheaton College, before traveling to the University of Chicago on Friday and Washington University of St. Louis on Sunday.