Holland, MI — The schedule was brutal. The scoring drought extended. The losses piled up.

Appropriate, perhaps, that the Goshen College men’s soccer team scored its first goal of the season on Labor Day.

After limping through the first three games of its 2006 schedule without a scored goal and playing on its heels for the majority of competition, the Leafs finally broke the drought Monday, handing NCAA Division III, 25th-ranked Hope College its first defeat of the season in a 1-0 win in the final game of the Cal Bergsma Memorial Tournament.

After a major league baseball-like schedule pitted Goshen (1-3, 0-0) in a four-games-in-six-days stretch to open the season, the Leafs busted out at the very end, taking a win before a four-day layoff to regroup.

“What a tough week for us,” said Tavi Mounsithiraj, Goshen head coach. “First we play a tough NCAA Division II Tiffin squad Friday (click here for recap) then we have to turn around and face NCAA Division III, 16th-ranked Calvin on Saturday (click here for recap). Having to face Hope, ranked 25th in the country in Division III, well, it was tough being 0-3 going into a match like this.”

Goshen entered the Bergsma Tournament as a late fill-in squad, having to face both co-hosts (Calvin and Hope) on little rest. After a 1-0 loss against Calvin on Saturday afternoon, Mounsithiraj’s squad fought through to pick up a needed win Monday in Holland, Michigan.

“I was pleased with how the team responded after playing three matches in four days,” Mounsithiraj said Monday. “Everyone was involved in getting this all-important victory.”

Those persons included senior goalkeeper Craig Welscott, who made just his second appearance of the season Monday. After a stellar junior season landed Welscott with All-Mid-Central Conference honors, the northern Michigan native has struggled through the outset of 2006 with a recurring stomach ailment (click here for related article).

With Welscott back in the lineup, the Leafs’ defense was able to hold off a montage of Hope offensive pushes, as the Flying Dutchmen recorded eight shots on goal for the afternoon.

“It took us awhile to get going again against a very good Hope team,” Mounsithiraj said. “Early in the first half we were lucky to keep Hope from scoring. They were taking shots left and right but Craig Welscott was up to the test making several saves from point blank range. Of course the defensive team of (senior) Joel Miller, (senior) Jared Price, (senior) Adam Yoder and (sophomore) Rusty Emery were there for extra support and getting our first shut-out of the season.”

With the Leafs’ defense maintaining poise throughout the first half — a scoreless halftime score ensued — it then began to start making offense in the second. After Mounsithiraj urged his team to be more patient at the intermission, Goshen finally put together its first scoring sequence of the season with 23 minutes remaining in regulation.

As sophomore forward Tony Janzen dribbled past a defender on the wing, he sent a beautiful cross in front of Hope’s goal. The Dutchmen’s keeper was able to punch the ball out of harm’s way, but the loose change was picked up by junior Matt Yoder, who headed the ball back into the goal mouth.

Fortunately for the Leafs, freshman Kyle Stiffney was waiting.

Stiffney redirected Yoder’s header with a headed ball of his own, punching it in the back of the net for the first score of the season. Playing with a lead for the first time, Welscott and company took care of business in the back, thwarting any serious Hope threats for the remainder of the contest.

“In the second half I told our guys to be a little more patient with the ball and try to maintain possession a little more and look for space whenever it is available,” Mounsithiraj said. “That seemed to pay off for us as we created more and more chances at the front of the goal.”

Hope still appeared to dominate the possession game statistically, as the Flying Dutchmen took 10 corner kicks to Goshen’s two in addition to placing eight shots on goal to Goshen’s five. Regardless of the paper trail, Mounsithiraj was pleased to capture the first win of the year in any manner necessary.

“We have played very good teams, and we have played them very well,” Mounsithiraj said, noting that two of the team’s losses came by 1-0 scores. “Once we figure out how to give ourselves better and more scoring chances, we will be okay.”

Goshen finally gets a relatively lengthy breather, as the team will remain idle until Saturday. Goshen will travel to Bluffton University for a men’s-women’s double-header Saturday afternoon in a sister-school affair. The women’s game is set to begin at 2 p.m., with kick-off for the men’s match slated for 4 p.m.