Goshen, IN – It may be a bit of a stretch, but Goshen College head men’s soccer coach Tavi Mounsithiraj may in fact believe he is a prophet.

“The night before our opening Mid-Central College contest against the University of St. Francis, our coaching staff had a meeting with our team captains (seniors) Joel Miller, Jesse Woodworth and Adam Yoder,” Mounsithiraj said. “We talked about our personnel, the play of each individual on the team and what direction we are headed. After long consideration I decided to start (senior) Ashe Abebe for the first time this season. We have several players that can be in the starting lineup but for some reason I had this feeling that Ashe would have a good night.”

Two Abebe scored goals and senior Craig Welscott’s school-record 24th career shut out later, Mounsithiraj could look back at his decision with glee.

Goshen (6-4, 1-0) opened the 2006 MCC season with a 2-0 win over St. Francis Saturday night at the Goshen College Soccer Complex, taking its fifth straight decision over the Cougars’ program and its third consecutive MCC opening win. The victory was especially pleasing to Mounsithiraj, who was benefited from Abebe’s near hat trick in his first starting gig of the year.

“Right off the bat we were in attacking mode, and five minutes in Ashe had a for-sure score when he headed home a high ball from Miller in the USF goal mouth,” Mounsithiraj said. “Somehow (St. Francis goalkeeper) Brandon Ingram made an incredible save, and the game remained nil-nil.”

That didn’t stay the case for long, however, as Abebe was at it again in just the ninth minute-mark, picking up a loose ball in front of the Cougars’ goal and blasting a shot past Ingram who had little chance to defend it. The score caused a relatively large Leafs’ student-body crowd to erupt – a testament to the school’s support for the program given that off-and-on rain showers tattered much of the match.

With a 1-0 lead Mounsithiraj turned to his stellar defensive unit led by Miller, who put forth a performance worthy of his two-time MCC Defensive Player of the Year tag according to the Leafs’ leader.

“Joel was absolutely awesome tonight,” Mounsithiraj said following the match. “He played harder than I have ever seen him play before. This has been nothing short of an MVP season for Miller.”

Backed by defensive mates Yoder, senior Jared Price and sophomore Rusty Emery, Miller helped keep St. Francis without a quality look for the remainder of the first half and for much of the contest, as Goshen began to lock down in the backfield. Welscott (who finished with five official saves on the night) did come up huge early in the second half, however, thwarting the Cougars’ best chance at a score with a diving stop. The shut out was Welscott’s 24th career no-hitter, passing 1988 graduate Darin Derstine (23 career shut outs) as the all-time leader in the Goshen record books.

“Craig made one really, really good save for us tonight and it was enough to get him the (goalkeeper shut out) record,” Mounsithiraj said. “He has been part of a very good defensive team during his career here. His play tonight was awesome, as usual.”

Riding its stalwart backfield through the second half, it was Abebe’s magic in the game’s 74th minute that added insurance for the Leafs, as again the new starter made a push literally moments after stepping on the field. Returning to his reserve role at the outset of the second period, Abebe was re-inserted back into the lineup at the 74th minute-mark. Twenty seconds later he had his second score of the evening, putting the ball into the back of the USF net on his first touch – the result of a beautiful through ball from freshman Nick Good.

“We put Ashe back in to give (sophomore) Cody Felton a break, and his first touch is a goal,” Mounsithiraj said. “He had some night. I was just happy to see someone else step up and score for us. Ashe now leads us on the season with three goals along with (junior) Tony Janzen.”

Woodworth and sophomore midfielder Garet Osterloo also earned praise from Mounsithiraj following the match, handling possession in the center of the field throughout.

“Jesse and Garet kept our attack going in the midfield,” Mounsithiraj said. “As a team we played really well but we still have a lot of work to do. This was a good win against a good USF side tonight.”

Goshen will continue MCC play Tuesday when the team travels to Spring Arbor University. Match time is set for 4 p.m.

UPDATE, 9/27/06: Due to an external administrative error, Tuesday afternoon’s match against Spring Arbor University has been postponed. League officials are reviewing protocol for both the make-up date and location. That information will be posted on this website as soon as it is provided to the Goshen College Sports Information Department. The Leafs’ next match will now take place Thursday, when the team hosts Moody Bible Institute. That match is slated to begin at 7 p.m.