GOSHEN, Ind. — Henrique Eichenberger scored the game-tying goal with 2:16 left in regulation Wednesday night, but 20 minutes of sudden-death soccer wasn't enough to produce a winner as the Goshen College men's team drew 4-4 with Bethel University at the John Ingold Athletic Complex.

Eichenberger scored the first and last goals of the game and the season for the Maple Leafs (0-0-1, 0-0-1 Crossroads League), who were opening their season on the latest date since 1980 thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. Tim Noeding scored twice for the Pilots (1-0-1, 0-0-1) and Rolphson Clervoix had a goal and an assist.

With the draw, the two teams split the half-point allotted to the match in the U.S. Highway 20 Cup rivalry series, so Bethel holds a 1¾-1¼ lead with three of the 15 points completed.

In Goshen's 991-game, 63-season history of varsity intercollegiate soccer, the game marked the first time ever that the final score was 4-4.

Clervoix opened the scoring for the visiting team in the 16th minute with an unassisted strike before Goshen levelled the match with 20:26 left in the opening half. A Stuart Aeschliman free kick found Eichenberger in front of the far post, where he crossed the ball back in front of Lucas Bontreger to make the score 1-1.

Clervoix assisted Matheus Santiago on the second BU goal less than two and a half minutes later, sending in a shot that ricocheted off goalkeeper Matias da Fonseca and letting Santiago clean up the rebound.

The Maple Leafs continued the game's breakneck speed by equalizing again in the 35th minute on a through ball up the touchline to Aeschliman. He crossed it to the penalty spot where Bontreger was waiting for his first goal of the night and the scoreboard soon read 2-2 with 10:47 left.

Tim Noeding scored on a free kick rebound with 32 seconds left in the half to give the Pilots a 3-2 lead. That wrapped up a first half that included 16 shots, 18 fouls, 7 saves, 5 goals, 5 corner kicks and 4 yellow cards.

Goshen equalized a third time 11 minutes into the second half when a short corner found Eichenberger at the edge of the penalty area. His chip into the goalmouth was punched away by netminder Arnaud Fady, but got only as far as Luke Bayliss. The senior did not miss to tie the score.

That tie lasted less than five minutes before Noeding took the ball away from the GC defense and made them pay with his second goal of the night with 29:13 showing on the game clock. For the fourth time, the visitors had a one-goal lead.

A variety of chaos ensued, including four yellow cards and several injury stoppages in a 10-minute span, before Felipe Gallo ran under a punt from Fonseca and played it to Eichenberger, who slotted it into the right side of the north goal in the 88th minute. For the fourth and final time, the game was tied.

Neither team was able to produce a winner over the final 22 minutes; in fact, they got just two shots on goal with Fonseca making a pair of stops in double overtime. Bethel also had the lone corner of the extra session.
Goshen finished with a 16-14 edge in shots, an 11-9 margin in shots on target, and a 20-13 edge in free kicks. Fady made 7 saves to Fonseca's 5.

The tie leaves the all-time series between Bethel and Goshen knotted at 25-25-3. It was the first time eight goals had been scored in a Goshen game since an 8-0 win over IU East on Sept. 15, 2018, and the first conference game with eight goals since a 7-1 loss to Indiana Wesleyan on Sept. 21, 1993.

Wednesday's game did not, however, set the record for goals scored in a Goshen-Bethel game. That honor goes to the 1988 affair, won 9-2 by the hosting Maple Leafs. The 1987 game, played at Coveleski Stadium in South Bend, was 7-2 to GC, while the Maple Leafs won 8-2 in 1982.

The last time each team scored at least four goals in a game involving the Maple Leafs was Oct. 6, 1979, in a 5-4 loss at what was then Saint Francis College in Fort Wayne. That game included two GC goals to tie the score with 22 minutes left before the Troubadours got an 87th-minute winner.

Goshen is back in action Saturday night for its other local rivalry, making its shortest road trip of the season to visit Grace College in Winona Lake at 7 p.m.