(Box Score) Indianapolis, IN — There was plenty to celebrate for the Goshen College men’s soccer team Saturday in the Circle City, as the Leafs handed Mid-Central Conference foe Marian College a 2-0 defeat to open league play.
Furthermore, Goshen head coach Tavi Mounsithiraj picked up his first career win on the Knights’ home field, while senior Tony Janzen — via his seventh goal of the season in the second half — moved into the program’s top 10 career goals scored list.
Not to be overlooked, the win was the third consecutive for Goshen (4-3-2, 1-0), whose 0-3-1 start to the season now seems to be a distant memory.
“What a big win for us today,” Mounsithiraj said. “Traveling all the way down to Indianapolis to play a quality team like Marian and coming home with a win is simply awesome. I’m happy for our guys. This was a big win for us as we start MCC play.”
It was also a big win for Mounsithiraj on a personal level, as the Leafs' leader was 0-1-2 against Marian in Indianapolis coming into Saturday’s tilt.
Another solid defensive effort helped better those numbers, as Goshen posted its fourth shutout in its last five contests. A 17 to five Leafs’ advantage in total shots on the afternoon provided mathematical backbone to the question of when Goshen would score, not if.
“We were a little disorganized at the beginning of the match but we settled down and started to do a better job of keeping possession as the game wore on,” Mounsithiraj said. “Even though the score was nil-nil at halftime, we were beginning to create lots of chances up front.”
For the seventh time this season it was Janzen that cashed in on one of those opportunities, outworking the Marian backfield for a nifty dribble-score at the game’s 55:37 mark. The score was the 37th of Janzen’s storied career, moving him into Goshen’s all-time top 10 goal-scorers list.
“That is a select crowd, I can tell you that,” Mounsithiraj said. “For Tony (to keep scoring and) to be marked the way he is night in and night out is impressive in its own right. But when you think about how many great goal scorers we’ve had here over the years, it’s really awesome.”
Janzen’s scoring efforts were joined by sophomore Scott Wilkinson with four minutes remaining, as Wilkinson tallied his first goal as a Maple Leaf at the 86:43 mark. That score gave Mounsithiraj’s defense all the insurance it would need, as freshman Trent Moody finished with just one save in goal in his fourth shutout effort of the season.
Moody was not on the field at the game’s conclusion, however, suffering an injury to his right index finger and a nasty bump on the head with just under nine minutes to play in the contest. Junior midfielder Garet Osterloo was inserted in goal for the game’s final 8:20, not having to field a shot on goal during that time.
Mounsithiraj said the status on Moody will be further evaluated by Goshen College athletic training personnel on Monday.
“(Junior) Rusty Emery, (senior) Matt Yoder, (sophomore) David Shenk and (sophomore) Kyle Stiffney were awesome in the back for us,” Mounsithiraj said. “Trent played well again, and hopefully he will be ready to go for our next game. Any time you can win away from home in the MCC, it’s a good result.”
Mounsithiraj will be looking to repeat that exact scenario on Wednesday, when the team continues MCC competition at the University of St. Francis. Match time is set for 4 p.m.
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Senior Tony Janzen