First Maple Leaf Hat Trick Since 2007 Comes Up One Goal Short
Aeschliman scores three times in 4-3 defeat
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Freshman Stuart Aeschliman turned in the first hat trick in nearly a decade by a Goshen College men’s soccer player, but it wasn’t enough Monday as Holy Cross College downed the Maple Leafs 4-3 at Saints Field.
Aeschliman scored the game’s first two goals before the 10-minute mark before Ilja Golobevs scored his first of two goals with 11:05 left before halftime to pull the hosts back within a 2-1 deficit.
Holy Cross (4-1) equalized in the 52nd minute through Kalen Saddler and took the lead via Cayetano Donoso with 18:13 to play.
Aeschliman’s third goal of the game (and Ollie Smith’s second assist) leveled the score at 3-all with 16:34 remaining. Golobevs’ second goal of the game, both from the penalty spot, finished the scoring with 130 seconds left in regulation: while Goshen got 15 shots over the course of the game and put nine of those on frame, the Maple Leafs’ one attempt over the final two minutes sailed wide.
Each team was whistled for 19 fouls and nine players saw yellow cards, including two from each team in a six-minute span early in the second half.
“Today’s game turned out to be exactly what I hoped for, other than the loss,” Goshen coach Arron Patrick said. “We played a resilient, tough team. It’s a completely different type of game and atmosphere than we usually see, and for the first 30 minutes we completely dominated. Our movement, our timing, and our tempo were the best they’ve been all year.”
Golobevs led all players with 11 shots: Aeschliman, Nate Nussbaum and Brodie Nofziger registered four each for GC. After Goshen took seven of the match’s first 10 shots, Holy Cross would get off 17 of the last 25 over the final 67 minutes.
“When the first penalty kick was called, it gave life to Holy Cross and gave them something to play for,” Patrick said. “In the second half there was a lot more adversity and my message to the lads was to push through it and enjoy this type of game. Our biggest mistake was not staying composed and continuing to play our game. We got dragged into a dog fight, which is exactly what they wanted. We will definitely learn from this, and finish teams off, so that other influences cannot impact the outcome of the game.”
Aeschliman’s hat trick was the first for the Maple Leafs since Tony Janzen scored three times in a 4-1 win over Eastern Mennonite University on September 15, 2007. Goshen has 53 hat tricks in its history, but only four have come since 1998.
Johan Escalante made four saves for the Maple Leafs (2-2) while Noah Kemp racked up nine for the Saints, who have posted three wins over Crossroads League foes in the past 12 days with another chance on Friday.
“Big credit should go to Holy Cross and their coaching staff for the test they provided us with,” Patrick said. “I have always admired their camaraderie and hard work—they made us better today, and ultimately, that’s the point of all this. We definitely made a few individual errors that we will correct, but overall I’m very proud of these guys. We have a style and a philosophy that works well for us and we have evolved over the last few years into a very good side. That won’t always show in wins, but the majority of the time it will.”
Including Monday’s results, Aeschliman leads the team with five goals while Smith and Ethan Francois-Ravalier have two assists each. In the past four seasons, only one player (Joel Yoder in 2014) has scored more than five goals in a GC uniform: four players posted three or more helpers in 2014, but none have done it since.
Goshen drops to 2-2 at the start of a three-game week: the Maple Leafs host Rochester at 5 p.m. Wednesday and Calumet at 7 p.m. Saturday. Both matches are part of doubleheaders: the women’s game follows the men on Wednesday and precedes it on Saturday.