Goshen College men’s soccer claims 2005 conference co-championship;
Leafs’ 2-1 win over St. Francis gives program first title since 1990 season

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — When Tavi Mounsithiraj took over as head coach of Goshen College men’s soccer in the fall of 2001, he envisioned restoring the program to the top of the Mid-Central Conference (MCC). After 14 seasons without claim to an MCC Championship, the men’s soccer team beat the University of St. Francis 2-1 on Oct. 22, giving it a share of the 2005 MCC title.

Goshen won 12 MCC Championships and five Co-Championships from 1970 to 1990. Then Bethel College in Mishawaka, Ind., mustered its way to a leading position in the conference and won seven MCC titles between 1991 and 2004.

“I am so happy for our program, our school and our fans to win a share of the MCC Championship for the first time in 15 years,” Mounsithiraj said. “I am so proud of all of our players. They deserve this because they have worked so hard for it. It really is an exciting time.”

Goshen (13-1-2, 6-1-1) must share the league title with Bethel (9-5-3, 6-1-1), after the Pilots dispatched Spring Arbor University by a 4-1 score on Oct. 22. Had the Pilots lost, Goshen would have secured its first outright championship since the 1988 season. A Bethel loss also would have given Goshen an automatic berth into NAIA Regional play (the MCC regular-season champion receives that bid), but since Bethel defeated Goshen by a 4-1 score on Sept. 30, the Pilots clinched the MCC’s tiebreaker for first place (used in both MCC Tournament seeding and NAIA Regional qualifications).

The first round MCC Tournament match is Saturday, Oct. 29 at the Goshen College Soccer Complex, as the Leafs step up to the challenging task of turning around and playing St. Francis again.

– Cory Furman

Editors: For more information about this release, contact Goshen College Sports Information Director Cory Furman at (574) 535-7497 or coryf@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a four-year residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu/.