Brandeis graduate and men’s soccer forward Michael Soboff ’15 has become just the second player in the university's history to play professional soccer. 

The Framingham native recently signed with Hakoah Maccabi Amidar Ramat Gan FC of the Israeli Liga Alef South Division.

The club is located in Ramat Gan, a city in the district of Tel Aviv, and was recently relegated to Liga Alef from Liga Leuimit, the second tier of the Israeli soccer system. Hakoah Maccabi Amidar Ramat Gan looks to bring itself back up in the standings table by adding a dynamic scorer and play-maker in Soboff. 

Before coming to Brandeis, Soboff spent the first two years of his college career playing for Division I Rutgers University. 

In his two seasons on the Judges, Soboff scored 13 goals and compiled 12 assists in 39 contests. 

An incredible nine of those 13 ended up being the game winners of the match. 

His biggest goal came in last season's NCAA Division III Championship’s opening round against Husson University. 

Soboff also finished his senior year earning NSCAA All-New England honors while also being chosen as the NSCAA National Division III Player of the Week in September but missed some time due to a leg injury.

As a team, the Judges finished with an overall record of 35-8-2 in the two years that Soboff reigned on the pitch. He helped send the squad to the Sweet Sixteen in 2013 and the Elite Eight in 2014 while also ending the 2014 season No. 6 in the NSCAA Division III national poll and No. 7 in the D3soccer.com poll.

The only other player to play professional soccer for the Judges was Cleveland Lewis ’78. Lewis was part of the inaugural Brandeis Sports Hall of Fame class in 1993. 

He played for the Memphis Rogues of the North American Soccer League (NASL). After Lewis, it had been more than thirty years since a Judge had signed a professional soccer contract.

Joining Soboff on Hakoah Maccabi Amidar Ramat Gan will be an opponent with whom Soboff and the Judges have faced off before, Luke Finkelstein of Division III Wheaton College.

 Soboff was also named as the first Brandeis Athlete of the Week presented by the Chateau Restaurant Group.

Hakoah Maccabi Amidar Ramat Gan’s opening contest of the season will be against Maccabi Kabilio Jaffa on Sept. 25. 

—Noah Hessdorf