GOSHEN, Ind. — One of the two longest unbeaten runs in Goshen College women's soccer history came to an end Wednesday as the Maple Leafs dropped their conference opener to Bethel College 1-0 at the John Ingold Athletic Complex.

GC's Allison Ebersole took the first two shots of the match, including an attempt in the 14th minute that required the first save, before the Pilots (3-2-4) put three straight shots on target between the 16th and 19th minutes.

Bethel took five corner kicks and 12 shots before halftime, but it was a rebound rather than a corner kick that led to the match's only score. With 6:40 left before halftime, Meghan Knoff took a shot from outside the penalty area on the right side; Katie Baer made her sixth save of the match for Goshen, but the rebound fell to Kama Hardy, who scored into the left side netting for the 1-0 lead.

Goshen (4-2-2) would have its share of chances to equalize after halftime as the defense held Bethel without a shot on goal for the last 33 minutes. Carolina Villalobos Palacios forced the half's first save less than four minutes in and Ebersole added another at the 61-minute mark; in between, the Maple Leafs had three separate attacks halted by the assistant referee's offside flag.

The Maple Leafs finished with a 10-3 edge in shots in the second half, a period that saw neither team attempt a corner kick but did include six GC free kicks after Bethel fouls. After two Mara Beck tries sailed wide in the middle of the half for Goshen, four Maple Leafs took shots in the final 15 minutes against a Bethel defense that increasingly pushed the ball back to the corners of the Pilots' attacking third.

Perhaps Goshen's two best second-half chances came in the 79th minute, when Kaitlyn Begley hit the goalkeeper with a shot she was attempting to chip, and the 86th minute, when Megan Bower's attempt less than three minutes after coming off the bench was saved on the right side.

Tessa Zimmerly made 6 saves for Bethel, which finished with 15 shots, led by Rebecca Kanpol with 6. Baer made 8 stops for the Maple Leafs, who got 4 attempts out of Ebersole

The Maple Leafs' loss was their first since the season opener, a match against Concordia University of Michigan on August 20. The intervening 36 days saw the team play six matches, winning four and drawing two, along with an abandoned match that does not count in the records. Goshen's 1997 team went undefeated in its first six matches over a 14-day span from September 3-16.

Notable Numbers:

259: At the time of Hardy's goal, the Maple Leafs had not conceded in 259 minutes and 6 seconds dating back to a 90th-minute goal at IU East on September 8. That goal, which halted a 274-minute scoreless streak, prevented the team from posting a three-match shutout streak as well, something that Wednesday's strike also prevented.

10: Baer made eight or more saves for the 10th time in her last 12 matches dating back to last season; she entered the match with the 20th-best save average in the NAIA (8.0 saves per match) and maintained that average.

4: Goshen plays four of its next five matches on the road, with a pair of two-date sojourns bookending a clash with NAIA no. 12 Marian on Homecoming Weekend next Saturday, Oct. 6.

Up Next: Saturday, Sept. 29 — Goshen at Grace, 7 p.m.