The men's soccer team played away for its first two matches of the season, but the squad clearly felt right at home on the field. Brandeis blanked both Fitchburg State University and Keene State College with identical 5-0 scores over the weekend at the Keene State Xara Soccer Classic.

Goalkeeper Blake Minchoff '13 helped lead the Judges, playing 90 minutes in both games and saving a penalty kick against Fitchburg last Saturday. Minchoff was named to the All-Tournament Team along with teammates Joe Eisenbies '13, Sam Ocel '13 and Alex Farr '12.

"It was a very good weekend," said coach Michael Coven. "Realistically, Fitchburg was an average team, and you expect to do as well as we did against them. But traditionally, Keene, especially on their home field, are tougher. We beat them 5-0; it says a lot about our team."

Keene boasted a 14-4-2 record last season, losing just twice at home and outscoring their opponents 37-25. But the Judges caught the Owls in disarray from the opening whistle and wasted little time capitalizing. In just the fourth minute, Brandeis midfielder Kyle Feather '14 took hold of possession in Keene's end of the field and dribbled past two defenders before firing into the back of the net for the 1-0 advantage.

Keene registered just one shot on goal in the first half and looked content to head into the break down just a goal. But with seconds left in the first half, Farr's shot from a tight angle found the back of the net to double Brandeis' lead and take the Owls further out of the game.

"Farr had the ball in the corner at no angle," Coven explained. "[He] hit a cracker, and it went into the upper corner of the net. It broke their back."

Brandeis kept up the offense in the second half, converting three goals in a 16-minute span. Ocel, who scored once against Fitchburg the previous day, netted Brandeis' third. He chipped a feed from Steve Keuchkarian '12 into the back of the net past Keene sophomore goalkeeper Malcom Cheney to make it 3-0. The goal capped a sterling opening weekend for Ocel, who missed all of last season due to injury.

"It's nice to have him back after a year," Coven said. "When you have a major knee surgery like he did, you never know how you're going to come back. [Ocel], he's never missed a beat. He's playing exceptionally well. You'd never know he had major surgery last year."

"[On the goal], Keuchkarian made it," Coven added "He took his man on, lifted the ball in the air over his defender, and Sam took it and made it a side-netting finish."

In the 66th minute, Feather doubled his tally by finishing a cross from Luke Teece '12. Teece dribbled past one player and then played Feather at the near post, who finished easily to make it 4-0. Eisenbies added a fifth goal in the 74th minute, hitting a first-time shot off a corner kick by Tyler Savonen '15.

On Saturday, the Judges beat Fitchburg by the same score but were even more dominant in their play. The Falcons were missing some key players including starting goalkeeper Evan DeAmicis, who has severe injuries to his spleen, liver and kidney that he sustained in a pre-season scrimmage.

Midfielder Lee Russo '13, Keuchkarian, midfielder Theo Terris '13 and Savonen scored in addition to Ocel against Fitchburg. Brandeis nearly conceded a goal in the 20th minute after sophomore Falcons forward Carmen Bordonaro drew a penalty. But Minchoff stopped the ensuing kick, parrying away an effort from junior forward George Sullivan.

The Judges' next game is away at Colby Sawyer College on Wednesday night. The home opener will be Wednesday, Sept. 14 against Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

"We're going to take them one at a time," finished Coven. "We have very difficult schedules. The boys played well over the weekend, but the weekend is over. We have a game on Wednesday that we have to focus on."