(Box Score) Goshen, IN — Fresh off a pair of disappointing home losses, the Goshen College women’s soccer team made certain that the third time was the charm Tuesday night, obliterating visiting Calumet College by an 8-0 score at the Goshen College Soccer Complex.
Goshen (1-2, 0-0) got the offense untracked early and often against the Crimson Wave, recording its first goal just five minutes into the action and its last goal with just under two minutes remaining in the contest. When the smoke cleared, five different Leafs’ players had scored, Goshen had attempted a total 22 shots on goal and taken eight corner kicks — all compared to none, none and none from Calumet.
“One of the things that we wanted to do right away was gain an advantage,” said Thavisith Mounsithiraj, Goshen head coach. “We were able to quickly score in the first few minutes, and that helped us. We really needed to get our confidence in place after a couple of not-so-easy losses.”
Confidence may have begun to flow for Mounsithiraj’s squad well before the start of Tuesday’s match, as Calumet was forced to play a man down due to injury. That assurance quickly ballooned as play commenced, with freshman Yaneth Hernandez igniting the scoring just five minutes in. Hernandez was able to break free from Calumet’s trapping defense, dribbling nearly 40 yards in a fast-break situation and scoring easily in a one-on-one situation with the Crimson Wave keeper.
When senior Lucy Roth added a putback goal just four and a half minutes later, Mounsithiraj’s squad began to smell blood. A relentless attack on Calumet’s defensive half of the field followed, as sophomore Kaylee Pichardo and senior Kelsey Hartman each added goals to make the halftime score 4-0.
Scoring came nearly as quickly in the second half, as Pichardo scored a one-on-one goal just six and a half minutes into play following the intermission. Hernandez added her second score just three minutes later, while freshman Kat Luginbuhl carded her first collegiate goal at the match’s 55th-minute mark.
With substitutes playing liberally, Pichardo re-entered the game late, and promptly scored again, this time coming off an assist from freshman Heather Zimmerman with just two minutes remaining. The tally gave Pichardo her second career hat trick and first of the season, as Pichardo equaled a program-record four goals in Goshen’s 13-0 win over Andrews University last year (click here for related article).
“We were able to give everyone quality minutes tonight, and everyone did a nice job when they were on the pitch,” Mounsithiraj said. “Our efforts as a team were solid. We feel strongly that we have the personnel that can play complete and total soccer, every time out. I was especially pleased with our finishing tonight when given the opportunity. We must now continue to improve on our speed of play and transitioning.”
Goshen finally gets a small break from its recent three-games-in-five-days schedule, as the Leafs will remain idle until Saturday. The team will then travel to Adrian College for its first road match of the season. Game time is set for 12 p.m.
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Sophomore Kaylee Pichardo