Goshen, IN — At times, the line between poetic irony and simple coincidence can be pretty thin. Just a week and a half after slipping past Spring Arbor University to claim the 2006 Mid-Central Conference regular-season championship, the very same Cougars stood in the way of the Goshen College men’s soccer team’s quest for its first-ever MCC Tournament title.

For the Cougars, call it being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Twice.

Goshen (14-5-2, 6-1-1) cruised past Spring Arbor by a 3-0 count at the Goshen College Soccer Complex Saturday night, laying claim to the program’s first MCC Tournament Championship in school history. The win also pushed the Leafs into the NAIA Region VIII Tournament for the second time in three seasons, with the tournament title giving the squad yet another post-season home match upcoming.

It was all icing on the cake for sixth-year head coach Tavi Mounsithiraj, who has now recorded three straight 14-win seasons, back to back regular-season MCC Championships and the school’s first MCC Tournament Championship. Should Goshen win two more games, four-year seniors Jesse Johnson, Joel Miller, Jared Price, Craig Welscott, Jesse Woodworth, Adam Yoder and Reuben Yoder would tie the program’s all-time career win mark with 53 victories.

Who said November wasn’t soccer season?

“This was a big night for our program, and for the young men wearing the uniforms,” Mounsithiraj said. “In soccer terms, we call this ‘winning the double.’ I think our team wants to prove they are the best team in the history of Goshen College. The competition is so much tougher now, and I think we are legitimately one of the best teams in school history. When I think of the last four seasons, it is amazing how far we have come.”

The most recent stop on that run came in the form of complete domination over Spring Arbor, as Goshen turned the MCC Tournament Championship contest into a sleeper. Early exchanges on both sides were quickly turned in Goshen’s favor thanks in large part to Woodworth, who cashed in goals at the game’s 18th and 31st minute-marks. The scores were Woodworth’s firsts of the season, and couldn’t have come — obviously — at a better time.

“Jesse started shooting the ball tonight, and they went in,” Mounsithiraj chuckled. “It all happened unexpectedly, because Jesse’s job is to create chances for others. Tonight the ball just came to him and he finished with some first-class finishes.”

Coming into the contest, Mounsithiraj said his team wanted to disarm Spring Arbor’s Aaron Mason — whose throw ins could sail across the entire width of the field — and take away the Cougars’ collective momentum, which had been growing throughout the tournament.

“We knew Spring Arbor would come in here riding the momentum of beating Marian and the regular-season co-champ Indiana Wesleyan, both on the road,” Mounsithiraj said. “We also had discussed how we were going to defend Mason and what he’s capable of doing on the sidelines. Having home field advantage was big for us. We have been playing a lot better lately and playing with more confidence, and I think being at home has helped us with that.”

Early on Saturday evening, it appeared that both teams were in for an even fight, as the Cougars and Leafs traded punches at one another’s goals. Welscott came up with two big saves in the opening 10 minutes of play, when Spring Arbor attempted four of its total 10 corner kicks on the night.

“Early on we gave up some corners, but even a throw in is like a corner kick when (Mason) takes it,” Mounsithiraj said. “We simply didn’t do a good job clearing the ball off their throw ins and corner kicks. Dutch (Welscott) came up with a couple good saves in front of the goal. We were there defensively, we just didn’t clear the ball as well as we would have liked.”

After settling in defensively, the Leafs’ midfield and front lines began to take over. Using a combination of Woodworth, sophomore Garet Osterloo and freshman Kyle Stiffney, Goshen slowly began to funnel pressure into SAU’s defensive third, allowing a pair of Woodworth goals as a result.

Woodworth’s first score came after junior forward Tony Janzen slipped a ball to classmate Nate Montiel inside the Spring Arbor 18-yard box, only to be taken down shortly thereafter. Montiel’s blast ricocheted off a Cougar defender, and Woodworth was there to chuck in the loose change from just a few yards away.

Minutes later, Woodworth was at it again, collecting a loose ball and volleying a dipper from just outside the penalty box, giving Goshen a 2-0 lead before halftime.

“Jesse was ‘Johnny on the spot’ today,” Mounsithiraj said. “His second score was really a beautiful shot. It dipped right at the end and snuck in with little SAU’s keeper could do.”

With perhaps the MCC’s best defensive unit on his side — the win was Goshen’s eighth shutout of the season to date — Mounsithiraj urged his team to become even more aggressive in the second half.

“Anytime you’re playing in a win or go-home situation, a two-goal lead is a dangerous lead,” Mounsithiraj said. “Another goal for us, and the fat lady is humming. A goal for them, though, and now you’re looking at a dog fight. I told our guys at halftime that if we can just score one more goal, the game is over.”

It took a little less than four minutes to grant Mounsithiraj’s request.

Pushing forward off an early counter-attack, Montiel received a beautiful through ball from Stiffney at the 49th minute. Montiel headed the ball violently at the Cougars’ goal, but SAU’s keeper got a hand on the shot. As it blasted skyward, the ball wavered a bit, hit the ground spinning and darted into the back of the net.

As Spring Arbor’s players screamed in protest — for reasons unbeknownst to Goshen fans — the goal stood. And, as Mounsithiraj foretold at the intermission, the game was effectively over.

“That goal deflated (Spring Arbor),” Mounsithiraj said. “We were not going to sit back (in the second half), we were playing too well to. We were in danger of them attacking us anyway, so we knew there would be a lot of spots open (to counter attack). Kyle did a great job of pushing the ball up and finding Nate in the box. Spring Arbor’s a very good team — you have to be in order to beat the people they have away from home — but that goal really put things out of reach.”

Goshen cleared the remaining Spring Arbor pushes with relative ease, and as the clock ticked down Mounsithiraj emptied his bench. For the first time in the 46-year history of the Goshen College men’s soccer program, the team had captured an MCC Tournament Championship.

“We have a really strong defense and it was nice to get a shutout after not having one for awhile,” Mounsithiraj said. “It was also nice to clear the bench and allow everyone to be a part of this.”

With the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Tournament results being announced over the public address system at the game’s conclusion, the Leafs’ initial opponent in the first round of NAIA Region VIII Tournament play was made known. Cornerstone University defeated Madonna University by a 2-1 score, setting up a showdown with the Crusaders on Wednesday night. Indiana Wesleyan University will travel to Cornerstone in the other Region VIII semi-final.

The scenario is almost an exact repeat of the 2004 season, save for the location of the contest. Goshen lost a 1-1 double-overtime, 5-4 penalty kick decision to Madonna that season (click here for related article), though Mounsithiraj said that this season is different for a variety of reasons.

“That year (2004) we qualified for regionals after a good run in our (MCC) tournament,” he said. “This year I think we have a better team and we feel more like we belong here. We almost felt lucky to be there in 2004. This year we have a legitimate reason to be playing and hosting the regional.”

Goshen will host Madonna at 7 p.m. Wednesday night. Ticket information will be posted at this site as it becomes available to the Goshen College Sports Information Department. The NAIA Region VIII Championship game will be played Saturday. WHAC-MCC procedures alternate the home site of that championship contest each season, with the WHAC team hosting the championship contest this year. Should Goshen advance past Madonna and Cornerstone knock off Indiana Wesleyan, the Leafs would travel to Cornerstone Saturday. By virtue of regional seeding, however, Goshen would host Indiana Wesleyan if the Wildcats advanced past Cornerstone.

“It is all to early to think about those scenarios,” Mounsithiraj cautioned. “Madonna is a very good team and we will start preparing for them right away. We are happy to still be playing, and happy to be at home.”