Indianapolis, IN — Prior to the start of Tuesday afternoon’s Mid-Central Conference match at Marian College, Goshen’s view of the outright league championship was crystal clear.

At the event’s conclusion, it was as fuzzy as ever.

Needing to win its final two regular-season MCC matches for its first outright conference title since the 1988 season, the Goshen College men’s soccer team could only settle for a 1-1 tie at Marian, setting off a league-wide chain reaction that could end with any of three teams claiming to be MCC champs. Goshen is still in that mix, but now it needs help from other teams.

“I knew that traveling three hours to Indianapolis to play Marian College would be tough,” said Tavi Mounsithiraj, Goshen head coach. “For us to come here and still get a 1-1 draw was good, but it would have been nice to get a win. Give the Marian side credit. They played us tough.”

The 1-1 tie after 90 minutes and two overtimes was not as detrimental for Goshen (12-1-2, 5-1-1) as a loss would have been, but it certainly didn’t help. With Bethel College defeating the University of St. Francis by a 3-0 score Tuesday, the Leafs and the Pilots now boast identical 5-1-1 league marks. Since Bethel beat Goshen on Sept. 30 (click here for article), they possess the current tie-breaker for first place.

The focus for all teams now shifts to this Saturday’s conference slate, where Goshen will visit St. Francis while Bethel hosts Spring Arbor University. Should the Leafs win and Bethel lose, Goshen would be the 2005 MCC Champions. A reverse situation would give Bethel the league title, while if Goshen and Bethel both fall Saturday and Marian (currently 4-2-1) defeats Grace College, there would be a three-way tie at the top.

Those scenarios don’t include the possibilities of tie results, which would further complicate matters.

“We’re not worrying about how things are shaking out elsewhere, or if so-and-so does this or that,” Mounsithiraj said. “The bottom line is that we have to try to play our best soccer on Saturday, just like we did tonight. A 1-1 draw here (at Marian) is still a good result for us. This is a very tough place for anyone to play and Marian is a good side.”

Marian — coming off a 1-0 defeat of Bethel last Saturday that helped propel Goshen to its momentary grasp of the MCC lead — proved it was a serious contender in the first half Tuesday night. After battling Goshen for possession and control from the outset, it was the Knights that struck first, placing a header into the back of the Goshen net at the match’s 34th minute mark to take a 1-0 lead into the half.

“It took us awhile to get going,” Mounsithiraj said. “Offensively, we created a couple of chances but just not enough in the first half. Marian got a quality goal, and we couldn’t panic.”

Mounsithiraj’s team did not, and just four minutes into the second period tied the match. Sophomore Tony Janzen tracked down a long send from junior Jared Price at the 49th minute mark, and maneuvered his way into the box before slipping a six-yarder past Marian’s keeper for the equalizer. The score seemed to give Mounsithiraj’s team a burst of confidence, according to the team’s leader.

“Before the start of the second half I told our squad that we were doing fine and just needed to get the ball moving a little bit quicker,” Mounsithiraj said. “We began to use two to three touches to move the ball and created more shots on goal.”

Unfortunately for Goshen, none found the back of the net following Janzen’s push. Despite several quality looks at the Knights’ goal, the Leafs could not get the ball past Marian goalkeeper Gary Yohe.

“Marian’s keeper came up with some great saves,” Mounsithiraj said. “We continued to play hard, but every time we made a run Yohe came up big.”

The same was true for junior Craig Welscott, who also saved shots on the Leafs’ goal that could have proved costly. Marian attempted seven shots on goal to the Leafs’ eight, while Goshen led the corner kick tally by the same margin.

Perhaps Goshen’s best chance to win the match came in the first overtime period, when Janzen headed a point blank look into the goal line. Yohe was able to outstretch just enough, however, deflecting Janzen’s shot out of bounds for a Leafs’ corner kick.

“I thought both keepers came up with some really big saves to keep this thing at 1-1,” Mounsithiraj said. “I was still pleased with the way we played. To be down one-nil in the first half and come back to get a draw was the result of a solid second half for us. We now will focus on finishing the regular season strong.”

Goshen will travel to Fort Wayne for a 3:30 p.m. match with the Cougars, just one piece of the MCC puzzle to be decided Saturday. In the event of league-leading teams ending the regular-season with identical records, a co-championship will be awarded. Thus, a Goshen win Saturday would ensure the Leafs at least a part of the conference title. (The last time Goshen took co-MCC Championship honors was in the 1990 season.) Tie-breaking procedures will be used to determine seeding for the MCC Tournament. For a complete look at the current MCC standings, click here.