By Tony Miller
Sports Information Director

GOSHEN, Ind. — Ollie Smith turned in the 56th known hat trick in Goshen College men's soccer history Saturday night and the Maple Leaf defense turned back its fourth straight opponent in a 4-0 win over the University of Saint Francis at the John Ingold Athletic Complex in each team's Crossroads League opener.

Goshen (8-2, 1-0) turned up the pressure from the opening whistle, getting off five shots in the first 12 minutes and putting three of those on frame. The Cougars (3-6, 0-1) would be held without an attempt for the first 26 minutes and mustered just seven tries on the night to Goshen's 24.

Smith's first two goals came two minutes and five seconds apart on the Maple Leafs' seventh and eighth shots. With 11:28 remaining in the first half, he came on to a loose ball on the right side of the USF penalty area and finished it; at the 9:23 mark, he took a pass from Uriel Macias and had a rip from outside the top of the box.

GC nearly extended its edge again on several more occasions before halftime, taking four shots in the last five minutes. Ethan Francois-Ravalier's try from the right side in the 40th minute was on goal in every way but the statistic, ricocheting off the crossbar and yielding a try from Uriel Macias that sailed high. Smith's first crack at his third goal resulted in a save with 2:32 to play.

Those attempts did not materialize, however: GC entered the intermission with a 13-3 edge in shots and a 2-0 lead on the scoreboard.

"Saint Francis was a much improved team from last year, and we were still feeling the loss they dealt us in 2016," said Goshen coach Arron Patrick. "Our guys wanted to prove that we have more cutting edge and executed very well. We put in a very professional performance, controlled possession, played patient (soccer) and finished well."

Again, the Maple Leafs had the early edge in the second stanza, taking the first eight shots. The fifth came to fruition by virtue of the sixth with 27:49 remaining when Stuart Aeschliman's shot from the left side was saved by Cougar netminder Braden Conn. The Cougars couldn't nab the rebound, though: instead the ball found Smith on the right side, and if you have read this far you can probably infer what happened next.

Smith's third goal in a span of less than 29 minutes gave his team a 3-0 lead and improved his total to eight goals on the season, matching Aeschliman for the team lead. That tie lasted less than 17 minutes, though, as Aeschliman would score Goshen's fourth with 11:07 left on a through ball from Oscar Ocampo.

Tyler Born checked in for starting goalkeeper Johan Escalante after the fourth goal, so Goshen's fourth straight clean sheet is credited to the team rather than a player. Each netminder made two saves in the win while Conn added eight in defeat: Aeschliman (six) and Smith (five) each took more shots on goal than the Saint Francis team (four).

"It was great to be able to play all the guys tonight, great to get another clean sheet and great to score four more goals," Patrick said. "We are by no means satisfied with this win but it was a great start to league play. Nate Nussbaum and TJ White did a great job controlling the game from the midfield. Tevin Gilkes and Kyle Ramirez Ingold did a good job of nullifying their counterattack and distributed the ball well. Now we must recover and focus on a big game Wednesday."

Each team was the beneficiary of numerous free kicks: Goshen was called for 23 fouls to Saint Francis' 14 while both offside calls went against the hosts. Goshen took three corner kicks and USF two.

Smith becomes the 16th player with a documented hat trick in Maple Leaf history, but only the fifth since the Crossroads League (then Mid-Central College Conference) expanded to eight schools in 1994. 1998 graduate Sam Richardson turned the trick four times and 2007 alum Tony Janzen scored three goals twice: Smith, Aeschliman and Cody Felton each did so once. The program record is held by Lynn Smith, Don Hess and Abner Kisare with seven hat tricks each.

The four-game shutout streak is Goshen's eighth all-time and the first since 2006, when Craig Welscott backstopped the team through 374 scoreless minutes; incidentally, Patrick scored the goal that broke the streak while playing for Bethel in a game GC won 2-1 behind goals from Janzen and Garrett Osterloo. The 2017 team's current mark of 430 minutes, 46 seconds without a goal is the fifth-longest in school history, with all four above it coming in 1981 or before.

As of Sunday night, Goshen will have conceded once on its home pitch in the last calendar year, a span of 10 matches and 920 minutes. All told, it has been 932 minutes of action since the Maple Leafs allowed their penultimate goal at home and 340 minutes since Calumet College's Farouk Afalobi broke the previous streak on Sept. 9 of this year.

The Maple Leafs will put all of their streaks save the home one on the line Wednesday night in a visit to Patrick's alma mater and defending conference champion Bethel College. The Pilots went 13-8-3 a season ago and are 6-2-2 so far in 2017, coming off a 0-0 tie at Grace on Saturday, while receiving votes in the NAIA coaches poll.

"Bethel are always a top team in this league, and this year we take in the confidence that we can go in there and try to outplay them," Patrick said. "I'm excited to see where these guys go and watch them grow as the season goes on."

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday night at Morey Field in Mishawaka. The match is the first of a three-game road swing for the Maple Leafs, who won't return home until they face Spring Arbor on October 14.