(Box Score) Lancaster, PA — With a plethora of storylines and themes looming amidst Saturday’s Eastern Mennonite University-Goshen College men’s soccer match up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Leafs’ head coach Tavi Mounsithiaj could not get a MasterCard commercial out of his head.
“Bus drive to Lancaster, PA, 10 and a half hours,” he said.
“One charter bus, $4,000,” he said.
“Hotel room for two nights, $1,500,” he said, starting to crack a wry smile.
“Beating EMU 4-1 in front of our families, friends and GC alumni,” he paused.
“Priceless.”
With props to the credit card’s advertising campaign, Mounsithiraj was all smiles late Saturday night, as Goshen defeated EMU by a 4-1 score at Lancaster Mennonite High School. In a heated — albeit lopsided — sister institution rivalry, Goshen (2-3-2, 0-0) rode the second career hat trick of senior Tony Janzen for the win, knocking off the Royals for the first time since 1969.
For Mounsithiraj, it was a long time coming.
“The record books are kind of sketchy, but we’re fairly certain that the last time we beat EMU in men’s soccer was in 1969,” he said. “I know for me, I was 0-6 coming into today as a player, assistant coach and a head coach. Last year we lost to EMU one-nil, so this win is long over due.”
With much more than bragging rights on the line for the two Mennonite Church USA institutions — Mounsithiraj dubbed the winner the “holder of the unofficial Mennonite Higher Education College Cup” — the Leafs and Royals met in Lancaster to showcase their talents in front of the large group of alumni (from both schools) and potential students who reside there. With presidents and administrators from both institutions on hand, Saturday afternoon’s game was only a blip in a weekend filled with good-spirited fellowship and promotion from both schools.
“This is a rivalry that goes quite a ways back, and athletics offers us a starting point to showcase our institutions to a lot of folks,” said Ken Pletcher, Goshen College athletic director. “We had a great turnout this weekend, and I think both sides were pretty pleased with the results.”
Goshen faithful were of course more pleased, as the Leafs resumed a rivalry that concluded with a 1-0 EMU win in Harrisonburg, Virginia last season (click here for related article). A four-year hiatus preceded that meeting, as the Royals took a 2-1 overtime decision at Goshen on Oct. 21, 2002.
Saturday’s contest yielded no such promise to the Royals, however, as Goshen took clear control from the outset and never looked back. A corner kick from sophomore Luke Woodworth set up the Leafs’ first score just 10 minutes in, as classmate Kyle Stiffney rose above the pack to place a header in the back of the net for a 1-0 lead. Just 10 minutes later it was Janzen who went to work, taking a through ball from Stiffney and out-maneuvering several EMU defenders. With only Royals’ keeper Jackson Maust left, Janzen made a nifty dribble move and tapped the ball into the net for a 2-0 Goshen advantage.
“We went all out in attacking EMU right from the start,” Mounsithiraj said. “We were able to get two first-half scores because we continued to press up and create chances.”
Goshen created plenty of opportunities on the afternoon — the Leafs registered 21 shots to Eastern Mennonite’s 13 — with most coming from the feet of Janzen. Just seven minutes into the second period Janzen became familiar with the other goal, blasting a shot past newly-inserted EMU keeper (and Bethany Christian High School graduate) Josh Leinbach to make it a 3-0 game.
Though Mounsithiraj’s team would allow a score just two minutes later — EMU’s Ben Yoder snuck a ball past freshman keeper Trent Moody, unassisted — the damage had been done. Using yet another stiff defensive scheme, Goshen held the Royals at bay for the remainder of the match, as Janzen added his third score at the 77th-minute mark.
The hat trick was the second of Janzen’s career, as the muscular forward tacked in three scores against Moody Bible Institute during his sophomore campaign (click here for article).
“This was a great win for our team and our institution, beating a quality team like EMU,” Mounsithiraj said. “Tony obviously finished really well today, but it was a great team effort. In the last couple of matches we played really well but just could not finish. To put up four goals against a team like the EMU side, I was quite pleased.”
Moody finished with six saves in goal for the Leafs, while Goshen tallied seven corner kicks to EMU’s four. The sister-school rivalry became palpably ardent down the stretch, as three yellow cards and a red card were handed out, all to EMU players.
“This was really a great opportunity for us, as we have several players from this area that got to play in front of their family and friends,” Mounsithiraj said. “It was a good experience for our guys, and is good exposure for our program and good for recruiting. While I was pleased with the way we performed, the season is still very long and we have a lot of work to do to prepare for MCC play. First we have to go to a very good Manchester side on Tuesday.”
Goshen will next travel to Manchester College Tuesday afternoon. Match time is set for 4 p.m.
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Senior Tony Janzen