Maple Leafs Get 45-Yard ‘Keeper Strike But Fall To Cornerstone

First GC goalie to score in a decade-plus not enough in 2-1 loss
By Tony Miller
Sports Information Director
GOSHEN, Ind. — Soccer may be known as the beautiful game, but the sport still awards points for execution more than style. Goshen College freshman Katie Baer balanced both of those in her 58th-minute goal Saturday afternoon.
Baer also happens to be the Maple Leaf goalkeeper.
The Villa Ridge, Missouri, native, added a career-high 10 saves as Cornerstone used scores in the 37th and 56th minutes to knock off Goshen 2-1 on Senior Day at the John Ingold Athletic Complex.
Cornerstone (3-2-1) had taken the game’s first 15 shots when GC junior Allison Ebersole drew a foul on a mid-air 50-50 ball just past the edge of the center circle in the Maple Leafs’ attacking half. With their team trailing 2-0, Goshen’s coaches sent all 10 outfield players forward and nine of them into the penalty area to maximize the chances of getting a head on the ball.
Baer promptly drilled the 45-yard shot into the upper corner of the net, some seven feet off the ground, rendering the offensive positioning moot. She became the first Maple Leaf since at least 2006 to score and keep goal in the same season, let alone scoring as the netminder. (In the first decade of GC women’s soccer, at least six players scored and played goalie in the same year—complete game-by-game records are unavailable.)
Cornerstone finished the match with 22 of the 24 shots and 12 of the 13 attempts on frame. Hannah Sell led all players with five shots: she scored the insurance goal after dribbling up the middle of the field. Taylor Pratt and Tori Johns (who scored the lid-lifter eight minutes before halftime) each added two shots on goal for CU.
Goshen (3-3-1) used seven substitutes, including reserve goalkeeper Kassandra Rodriguez as a midfield player. Freshman midfielder Talia Miller made her first career start.
“I’m proud of the effort my team gave today,” said Goshen coach Scott Gloden. “We are a bit thin and not used to the heat, but we competed well. Cornerstone is a good team that makes you work and punished us after a couple of bad mistakes. If we correct those, we win 1-0 and the story of the game is a great goal from Katie.”
Mikayla Johnson went the distance in goal for Cornerstone.
The match was the final non-conference home game for Goshen’s two seniors, defenders Lena Charles and Caitlin Hughey, who were recognized for their contributions before the match. Charles, who will be a four-year letterwinner, and Hughey, a two-year Leaf, have combined for 115 appearances and seven goals with at least 10 games remaining in their careers
Goshen makes its longest drive of the season with a 615-mile, 10½-hour round trip to the University of Rio Grande in southern Ohio next Saturday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at the URG soccer facility, which sits less than 15 miles from the Ohio River and the West Virginia line.
Goshen College is an affordable, nationally-ranked Christian liberal arts college in Northern Indiana known for leadership in intercultural and international education, sustainability and social justice.
The Maple Leafs compete in 13 varsity sports in the NAIA’s highly competitive Crossroads League, continuing a tradition of intercollegiate athletics that dates to 1956 and included women’s competition nearly a decade before Title IX. For more information on GC athletics, visit www.GoLeafs.net and follow the Maple Leafs on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @GCMapleLeafs.