(Box Score) Goshen, IN — To the casual fan, Thursday night’s season-opening 1-1 tie with Trevecca Nazarene University may have seemed like an ill-fated precursor of things to come.
To the true faithful of the Maple Leafs, it was — perhaps — a brilliant omen.
Goshen (0-0-1, 0-0) opened its highly-anticipated 2007 season Thursday night at the Goshen College Soccer Complex, settling for a 1-1 tie — no overtimes were played as part of a contractual agreement between the schools — against the Trojans in front of a packed house. While a tie result may not have been Leafs’ head coach Tavi Mounsithraj’s first wish, it was not a result to throw away the season with: In the past three season-openers, Goshen posted a composite record of 0-1-2. The team went on to go 43-9-9 in the remainder of games during that span.
“Really, this was a good opening match for us,” Mounsithiraj said. “We played about 17 players and got a good chance to see what some guys can do. We have a long season ahead of us. We still have a lot of work to do but this is a very good start for us.”
Mounsithiraj’s squad started with — and maintained for much of the night — a strong dominance of the ball, eventually taking seven shots on goal and placing nine corner kicks (Trevecca Naz recorded six and one, respectively). Despite the ball control, it was the Trojans that got on the board first, using a Leafs’ miscue in the backfield to sail a shot over freshman goalkeeper Anthony Giovarelli’s outstretched hands with 10 minutes remaining in the first half. The score remained 1-0 at the break, pushing an eerie calm over the Goshen student body crowd.
“I thought we did a good job right off the bat, as we had several good looks (at Trevecca Nazarene’s goal),” Mounsithiraj said. “(Senior) Tony (Janzen) was running strong up front creating some chances but Trevecca’s goal keeper came up with some great saves to keep us off the board.”
Continued pressure up front finally resulted in the tying goal just 11 minutes into the second half, as junior Cody Felton took a Janzen pass and slipped a low roller past the Trojans’ keeper at the 56th-minute mark.
“Oh, how important that (score) was for us,” Mounsithiraj said. “I was happy that we were able to maintain our poise and come back and tie the match after we outplayed the TNU side for most of the night.”
Giovarelli finished with a pair of saves on the evening, putting to rest — perhaps — his most nerve-racking game. After an off-season of contemplating the replacement of ’06 graduate Craig Welscott (the program’s all-time leader in shut outs), Giovarelli finally took care of the proverbial first-game jitters.
He and the Leafs will not have much time to tighten the screws, as the squad returns to the GC Soccer Complex Saturday night for its next contest. Goshen will host Davenport University as the tail-end of a women’s-men’s double-header. Game time is slated for 7 p.m.
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Junior Cody Felton