Goshen College women’s soccer faced a challenging 2025–26 season, marked with multiple injuries that began during the preseason in August. In addition to injuries, the team graduated 10 seniors this year.

The Maple Leafs finished their season ranked last in the Crossroads League with an 0-8 conference record and a 1-10-4 overall mark. By the middle of conference play, Justin Crew, head coach of women’s soccer, had only eight healthy players available on the bench, forcing one game to be canceled.

On Sept. 13, the Leafs tied 1-1 with the Wolverines of Michigan-Dearborn, with the only goal coming from a first-year, Isaura Toledo. Originally a goalkeeper, Toledo shifted to an attacking position due to the shortage of available players.

“When you have had as many injuries as we have had, everything is affected: strategy, tactics, training … everyone on the roster stepped up,” Crew said.

Sophomore forward Dani Maranhão was one of four players who got injured during preseason with an ankle sprain.

She said that even though injuries are impossible to predict, “It was a real bummer for us and for sure didn’t help us as a team. The rosters at practices were getting smaller and smaller, making it hard to create more game-like situations and scrimmages.”

Although difficult, Maranhão did not name her physical state as the biggest setback. Instead, she explained the mental hurdles an injury presented to her.

“The recovery process was hard. I was already struggling mentally, and I had high expectations for this season. My teammates helped a lot in that process; they were always cheering on the small steps,” she said. “We had a lot of good conversations about the injury and mental health.”

Isabel Massud, a senior midfielder, is one of 10 from the graduating class this season.  She appeared in 16 out of the 20 games this season.

“Players had to play the whole 90 minutes regardless of their tiredness … the healthy players supported the injured ones, and the injured ones supported those on the pitch playing against teams with fresh legs and rosters of 40 or more, while we had only 12 or 13,”  she said.

Yet, Massud is still able to see the bigger picture and how it impacted the team positively as well.

“I think this adversity definitely brought us together. We just got to know each other better and really talk about how to go on with the season, regardless of the injuries. It’s definitely not what we dream of, but I love the team that we have,” she said.

The last match of the season marked the departure of almost half of the roster for the Maple Leafs this year. Crew believes that “this group of seniors leaves behind a lasting legacy built on resilience, positivity, and togetherness. A strong foundation that will continue to shape our program for years to come.”

Massud said, “It’s, of course, a bittersweet feeling leaving the team, and we have a lot of seniors leaving. We love the sport, we love what we do. I just hope coach Justin can recruit a lot of good quality players, and I hope they go further next year.”

Looking forward, Crew has high expectations for the incoming first-year class who will join the team in early August of next year.

“We will have a large group of new players, so one of the biggest challenges will be getting everyone to mesh together. It can take players some time to really know how to play with each other, but I’m confident they will because of the foundation the graduating seniors have laid,” he said.

On Saturday, the senior class was recognized before the match against Saint Francis at the GC soccer complex. The Leafs returned to the pitch for the final time this year on Wednesday against the Cougars of Spring Arbor, falling 3-0 in the end.