Goshen College recorded an important victory in the league’s last regular season contest against Huntington University Saturday night. The Maple Leaf win was also the senior night for seven of their players at the Goshen College Soccer Complex.

The first half favored the Foresters as they controlled the tempo by generating seven shots to Goshen’s two, which included creating a handful of quality opportunities inside the box but the scoreboard didn’t reflect any change as it read 0-0 at half.

Both teams came out of the break with renewed energy and it only intensified when Goshen’s Josh Stoltzfus, a sophomore, logged the game’s first goal in the 48th minute. Huntington was quick to answer when Isaac Wust, a sophomore, scored to tie the game.

It didn’t take long for the Maple Leafs to regain the lead, this time by the foot of David Bontrager, a sophomore, with 57:45 on the clock.  In another quick reaction, the Foresters equalized the game again with 25:56 remaining as Wust scored again.

The battle went on for the next twenty minutes until senior Joel Yoder slid into a cross for the game-winner with just over six minutes to play. Goshen College finished with eight shots, while Huntington University finished with 15.

Phillip Longenecker, a sophomore, talked about the game against the Foresters.

“The game against Huntington wasn’t one of our best games,” he said. “A number of guys, including myself, didn’t feel as if we played to our best ability, but the nice thing was we had guys like David Bontrager and Joel Yoder step up big to keep us in the game.”

Longenecker gave his opinion about the regular season that they just finished.

“I think that this season overall was very positive when I look back on my personal play,” he said. “As a team we came in more organized and fired up entering into preseason, and because of that we’ve been more fit than last year, which has helped us finish out more games.”

The sophomore also compared this season with his first year.

“I felt like I was able to contribute more on offense than last year, as well as defensively,” he said.

“Coach Patrick has helped me improve drastically in my decision making and consistency.”

The next step for Goshen is the Crossroads League playoffs, where the formation will have some changes.

“Our formation going into the tournament won’t be exactly the same as it was against Bethel and Huntington, but the same principles of explosive counter attacks still apply,” Longenecker said.