SOUTHFIELD, Mich. — Lars Razor scored his team-high fourth goal of the season for the Goshen College men's soccer team Saturday night and the Maple Leafs led for more than 80 minutes on their way to a 2-1 win at Lawrence Technological University.
Luiz Matteus Pontes doubled the lead in the 25th minute, with Lucas Bontreger providing the assist on both goals to break a four-way tie for the most assists on the team, and the Maple Leafs walked out of Blue Devils Stadium with a victory for the first time ever.
The victory also allowed Goshen to finish the non-conference season at 4-2-3 with a .611 winning percentage, its best mark since going 5-4 with a 4-match winning streak in 2018.
Adrian Miling and Bryce Nicholson hooked up for the LTU goal with 3:28 remaining in regulation, denying the Maple Leafs their third shutout of the season.
Matias da Fonseca made a season-high 7 saves for Goshen, however, as LTU was credited with 18 total shots and 8 on goal to Goshen's 6 and 3 respectively. The Blue Devils (4-2) also had a 9-2 edge in corner kicks.
GC took two corner kicks in the first four minutes and needed less than 10 minutes to break the ice on the scoreboard, going ahead 1-0 with 35:48 showing in the first half. The Blue Devils promptly came back with two shots and a corner of their own in the next four minutes before Pontes doubled the lead with 20:55 left before the intermission.
Each team got a shot and a yellow card in the first seven minutes after halftime, starting the hosts down the road of an 11-1 shot advantage in the final half-hour. Fonseca saved six of them, the defense blocked one and Skander Larfaoui hit the post in the 76th minute.
After getting half of its deficit back, Lawrence Tech mustered three corner kicks and three shots in the last three minutes but hit the target with only one.
Each team had four players logged in the referee's book with cards, of which five came in the final five minutes.
Having exhausted its nine allotted non-conference games, GC will be off at midweek before entering the Crossroads League gauntlet of nine matches in 36 days beginning on Saturday. The Maple Leafs host Indiana Wesleyan University, the lone conference team with six wins already this season, at 5 p.m. at the John Ingold Athletic Complex.
