Both the men’s and women’s soccer teams saw their seasons come to an end last Saturday. Until this year, both teams hadn’t played postseason soccer at the same time since 2007.
A late-game corner kick proved too much for Goshen to handle in their men’s soccer Crossroads League tournament quarterfinals, as the Huntington University Foresters downed the Maple Leafs 1-0 in overtime Saturday afternoon from King Stadium in Huntington, Indiana.Due to the absence of artificial lights around Forester Field, kickoff was bumped up to 2 p.m. Partly cloudy skies and nearly 20 mph winds from end to end persisted throughout, creating passes that were polar in length and tricky for all players.
Huntington had the wind at their back for the first 45 minutes and used it to their advantage, earning all five corner kicks of the first half and taking five shots, none of which were on target.
Goshen’s best chance of the first stanza came when a ball served into the box was headed on frame by Calvin Mangunda,
a senior; but, the ball went right into the waiting hands of Forester goalkeeper Brad Buzzard.
The Maple Leafs registered four shots during the first 45 minutes, including two on target.
With the wind at their back in the second half, Goshen succeeded in firing six shots. However, the Forester defenders and Buzzard held strong throughout the full 90 minutes of regulation and for the seventh time in the season, the Maple Leafs headed to overtime.
Huntington completed regulation with an 11-10 shot advantage while Goshen took the second stanza’s only corner kick.
Headed the same direction as in the first half, in the 107th minute a Forester corner kick was played toward the penalty spot and then shot toward the goal. A goal-line save from sophomore Ethan Francois-Ravalier kept the game alive, but only for a few more seconds before Bradey Gerke drove the rebound home for the golden goal victory. The concession snapped Goshen’s shutout streak of 405:03 minutes.
The Maple Leafs finished with 11 shots and one corner kick, while Huntington ended up with 17 shots and six kicks from the corner flag. Johan Escalante, a sophomore and Goshen’s keeper, made three saves in goal in the loss.
Goshen wraps up the 2016 campaign with a 6-7-5 record, including a 4-3-2 mark in conference play.
The Goshen College women’s soccer team also saw their season draw to a close on Saturday as they traveled to Spring Arbor for a 3 p.m. kickoff. The Cougars, ranked 1st in the nation, were able to score twice in the first half, then scored four more times in the second 45 minutes to win the game 6-0. Carolina Villalobos, a first-year, had the lone shot of the night for Goshen.
The Maple Leafs finished with a 6-10-3 record overall and a 2-5-2 outcome in conference play, earning their first conference tournament birth since 2007.