Chicago, IL — Goshen head coach Tavi Mounsithiraj was looking for a “first” when traveling to Moody Bible Institute Saturday afternoon.

At the match’s conclusion, he gladly accepted two of them.

Having never won on Moody’s turf in four years of leading the Leafs’ program, Mounsithiraj exalted in victory Saturday in Chicago, leading his troops to a 5-1 win over the Archers in the squad’s fourth consecutive win on the season. Further highlighting the day was the outstanding play of sophomore forward Tony Janzen, who recorded his first career hat trick in the lopsided win.

“We had a number of players step up their games today,” Mounsithiraj said. “It was a good win for the entire program.”

Things did not start in anywhere near a good fashion for Goshen (4-0-1, 0-0) at the outset, however, as it appeared to be another day of Chicagoland-struggles in the game’s early moments. Moody Bible was able to gain control of the ball early and, in its only two shots on goal for the afternoon, was able to score to take a 1-0 lead just five minutes in.

“The last time we played here, we lost 2-1 (Oct. 30, 2003) and I felt we were the better side,” Mounsithiraj said. “Moody Bible is very tough at home, and I tried to remind the team that they would come out and play hard today and we needed to be ready mentally and physically. We didn’t.”

Junior goalkeeper Craig Welscott was able to get a hand on the Archers’ first shot but lost control of the ball, allowing another Moody forward to tap in the garbage for a 1-0 lead. It was not the start that Mounsithiraj was hoping for.

“I was afraid of this happening to us here,” he said. “I kept encouraging the guys that we had plenty of time left and not to get overly worried. Fortunately, we were able to bounce back.”

Perhaps understating his squad’s play for the remainder of the match, Mounsithiraj did not under-appreciate it. Goshen did not allow another Moody Bible shot on goal for the remainder of the match, while starting to bombard the Archers’ defensive unit with opportunities of its own.

Those chances came primarily in the form of Janzen, who scored two goals within a four-minute span to first erase the squad’s deficit and then provide a one-goal advantage. Janzen first took a beautiful pass from junior midfielder Atlee Schrock and toe-poked a slider past the Moody keeper to tie the score, then chased down a long punt from Welscott for his second. The latter came in typical Janzen style, outrunning everyone to a long ball for a one on one opportunity with the opposing keeper.

The Leafs’ first-half push didn’t end there, however, as senior James Graber scored his first goal of the season off a Raad Qumsieh (freshman) corner kick, one of 10 corner boots for Goshen on the afternoon.

When the smoke finally cleared, Mounsithiraj’s team held a 3-1 lead at the intermission, while Moody’s initial lead was a distant memory.

“After they scored, we started playing solid soccer with a lot of opportunity on the offensive end,” Mounsithiraj would say at the game’s conclusion. “Our confidence increased as the game went on.”

Goshen continued its dominant play in the second period, keeping the ball on Moody’s half of the field throughout. Janzen received another beautiful pass from Schrock — who was making his first start of the season in the midfield — notching his third goal of the match and seventh of the young season.

“Atlee Schrock did a fine job in the middle finishing with two assists,” Mounsithiraj said. “He really made things happen for Tony.”

Freshman Peter Miller thrilled his hometown crowd with his first score of the season late in the period, taking freshman Ben Martin’s pass and knifing between two defenders to send a shot off the near post for the final 5-1 margin. His score ended a night of 13 shots on goal for the Leafs’ team.

“Peter Miller also got the starting nod today, and it was good to see him finish off a great game with his first goal,” Mounsithiraj said. “Being from the nearby town of Evanston, Ill., I’m sure his family and friends enjoyed watching him.”

Mounsithiraj will now look to exorcise more demons of the past, as the Leafs will have short turnaround time before heading to Manchester College on Tuesday for a 4 p.m. match. Like Moody Bible, Mounsithiraj has never defeated Manchester on its home field. The last Goshen loss in North Manchester came by a 1-0 score on Sept. 24, 2003.