The wins keep piling up for the No. 12 men’s soccer team. The squad claimed victory in all three of its matches this past week, defeating cross-town rival Lasell College on Tuesday, blanking conference foe Emory University on Friday and beating the University of Rochester on Sunday to claim outright the University Athletic Association championship for the first time in school history. By clinching the conference title, the Judges have earned the first bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament of the 2015 season, a feat that should certainly not be overlooked. 

No. 12 Judges 2, Rochester 1

On Sunday, the Judges faced off against the University of Rochester, knowing full well that victory would bring the team the UAA title. The Judges opened scoring in the 29th minute when forward Joshua Handler ’19 masterfully assisted on a six-yard strike by forward Josh Berg ’17. 

The goal was Berg’s third of the year, and the assist was Handler’s second of the year. 

Rochester rallied quickly, notching the game at one in the 36th minute when sophomore forward Samuel Cekala scored off of a rebound from a save by goalkeeper Ben Woodhouse ’18. 

After a stretch of relative inaction, the squad dramatically struck home the game’s decisive goal in the 79th minute, when midfielder Josh Ocel ’17 found defender Kyle Robinson ’17 on a corner that led not only to the game-winning goal but to an NCAA Tournament berth as well. The victory moves the Judges to 15-2-1 on the season. 

No. 12 Judges 1, Emory 0

On Tuesday, the Judges took on Emory in Atlanta, Georgia. The matchup was one of relative calm, with only a combined 16 shot attempts from both squads. Of those 16 shots, only six qualified as shots on goal. 

That said, the Judges found a way to net a goal in the 58th minute, which turned out to be all they needed to claim victory. 

After a deep free kick, Ocel crossed the ball to forward Patrick Flahive ’18, who proceeded to bury the second game-winning goal of his career. After Flahive’s strike, the Eagles were never able to get themselves back into the game, failing to land strikes past Woodhouse. The victory moved Brandeis to a record of 14-2-1 and dropped Emory to 8-5-2 on the season. 

More importantly, the victory moved the Judges one win closer to clinching the UAA championship. 

No. 12 Judges 1, Lasell 0

The Judges began the week by squaring-off against local rival Lasell College in the squad’s final non-conference match of the season. In a manner that has become typical for this year’s nationally-ranked Judges squad, the team claimed victory by controlling the game’s pace from start to finish, seizing opportunities for shots on goal and finally breaking through on a late, clutch score by forward Chris Bradley ’16. 

The Judges outshot Lasell by a whopping 22-3 margin, including a 14-2 edge in the second half. 

While shots were at first not falling, Brandeis maintained its aggressive offensive attack, eventually leading to a Bradley goal in the 73rd minute, a strike that was set up beautifully by forward Brandon Miskin ’18. 

Despite the plethora of shot attempts from the Judges, the game ended in a 1-0 shutout. 

In claiming the UAA championship outright, the squad has accomplished what no team before it could, as the team has only once before held a share of the UAA title, following the 2013 to 2014 season. 

The Judges will welcome New York University on Saturday afternoon to close out the regular season before turning their attention to the postseason. 

Saturday’s contest begins at 1:30 p.m. on Gordon Field as the team tries to win its fourth straight game of the season.

The team will then look to surpass its result from the 2014 to 2015 season when it was defeated by the State University of New York at Oneonta in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division III Tournament.