BEVERLY, Mass. (info taken from an Endicott College press release) -- The fourth-ranked Brandeis University men's soccer team opened its campaign with a win tonight with a 2-0 victory over Endicott College. The Judges improve to 1-0, while the Gulls fall to 0-1. 

Deadlocked at 0-0 late in the second half, Brandeis senior forward Andrew Allen (Norfolk, Mass./King Phillip Regional) finally broke up the tie in the 63rd minute when he headed home a shot into the right corner of the net off passes from Jake Warren (Medway, Mass./Medway) and Michael Burch (Glastonbury, Conn./Suffield Acad.). The goal was Allen's 11th of his career, and his fourth game-winner. 

Burch got the scoring play going in transition as he sent a through ball from midfield up the left wing for Warren into plenty of space. Warren then corralled the pass on one touch and swiftly sent a cross to the back post for Allen, who promptly put the ball into the back of the net.

The Judges added another strike 10 minutes and 13 seconds later as Bryant Nardizzi (Framingham, Mass./Framingham) cleaned up a failed clearance near the 18. Nardizzi is a junior transfer from Division I UNC-Wilmington. 

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Greg Irwin (Passaic, N.J./Seton Hall Prep) stopped a career-high eight shots for his second career shutout.
• Jack Bacon (Lincoln, R.I.) made two saves in his debut for Endicott.
• Brandeis has made six straight trips to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament. It marks the second-longest active streak among more than 400 NCAA Division III programs.
• The Judges lead the all-time series with Endicott, 8-1-1. This was the first meeting between the two schools since 2008.

UP NEXT

• The Judges take on Gordon College on Sunday evening at 7 p.m. in Wenham, Mass.