Spring Arbor, MI — Heading into Saturday’s Mid-Central Conference match up at Spring Arbor University, Goshen head coach Thavisith Mounsithiraj said his team’s goal was to defend to the best of its ability.

For a half, the Leafs were perfect.

Goshen (2-13-1, 0-7) held Spring Arbor (10-6, 6-1) scoreless for the first 45 minutes of action Saturday, again playing what Mounsithiraj called “good soccer.” Again, however, the Leafs’ chronic injuries and limited roster came back to haunt, as the host Cougars charted three scores in the second period, spreading the goals evenly from three minutes in to just three minutes left. Still, Mounsithiraj said he was pleased with his team’s effort and determination throughout.

“I thought we came out hard and played well in the first 45 minutes,” Mounsithiraj said. “We played a physical game. Our game plan was to be physical and not allow any quality chances inside our 18 (-yard box), which we didn’t. Spring Arbor is a very organized team and I thought we disrupted their flow from the start of the game. We did well possessing the ball in the middle third of the field even though we did not create any quality chances.”

With the Leafs spending so much time putting up a strong defensive front, the squad’s offense suffered: Goshen attempted no shots on goal for the afternoon, and was out corner kicked by a 12 to zero count.

“Their counter attack was very dangerous, and it seemed every time we made any sort of push up the field they were very quick to get back to our end with more numbers,” Mounsithiraj said.

The Leafs’ defensive team of junior Hannah Eash, sophomores Sara Groff and Mary Jo Martin along with freshman Amy Clem drew compliments from Mounsithiraj at the conclusion of the game, as that foursome was primarily responsible for trying to check Spring Arbor’s talented front three.

“Amy, MJ, and Sara didn’t allow quality looks at our goal against a very good team,” Mounsithiraj said. “Hannah headed up a strong defensive effort, getting to nearly every ball that found its way past the rest of our defense.”

Sophomores Claire Lagerwey and Erica Hartman were also key, according to Mounsithiraj.

“Claire and Erica didn’t allow quality crosses from their outside midfield positions, which was important,” Mounsithiraj said.

With the loss, Goshen was mathematically eliminated from a chance at post-season play, as the team is destined to finish ninth in the MCC regardless of its final conference match result, or the result of any other league matches. After conference coaches elected to do away with the eight-nine seed “play in” match last season, it was decided that the ninth-place team would simply not quality for the MCC Tournament.

“We’ve got a clear picture of what we can do now,” Mounsithiraj said. “We have the chance to end our season on a win, and we’ll try our very best to make that happen.”

Goshen will conclude its season at Huntington University Tuesday afternoon. Match time is set for 3:30 p.m.