RIVERVIEW, Mich. — Henrique Eichenberger and Luiz Matteus Pontes scored late second-half goals as the Goshen College men's soccer team posted a 2-1 come-from-behind win over the University of Michigan-Dearborn on Wednesday night at Gabriel Richard High School.
The Maple Leafs (3-0-1) continued their undefeated start to the 2021 season despite falling behind in the 27th minute: it was Goshen's first win in a game it had trailed at some point since a 3-2 win over Holy Cross in 2018. The last time Goshen won a game after trailing in the second half was Oct. 11, 2017, when Uriel Macias tied a match at Marian with 5:44 left before scoring the winner in overtime.
The result marked the second time in three games that the Maple Leafs salvaged a losing effort, though, as the team earned a 1-1 draw after trailing 1-0 at Indiana University East less than two weeks ago.
While Michigan-Dearborn (1-1-1) took the game's first shots on goal in the 15th minute, creating the game's first chances in one sense, the Maple Leafs came even closer on the ensuing counterattack when a shot from Lucas Bontreger struck the post.
The Wolverines drew first blood on the scoreboard after a corner kick just shy of the three-fifths point of the first half. Robi Redzic broke the ice with 18:05 remaining for his first goal of the season.
GC managed three shots in the 36th minute alone, with two of them saved and one sailing wide, but was unable to level before the intermission.
The teams combined for four shots in the proverbial third quarter before Eichenberger took a pass from Lucas Bontreger to score with 18:19 remaining in regulation. While it took almost 13 minutes for the Maple Leafs to connect again, the go-ahead goal happened on the team's next shot as Pontes added his account opener with 5:22 remaining.
UMD mustered a pair of attempts to try to tie the score: one from Andrew Schwartz was saved in the 88th minute and another from Dominic Rossi passed wide in the final seconds. Schwartz was the Wolverines' shot leader with 3.
Pontes, Bontreger and Lucas Vilela all took three shots each for GC with Pontes, Vilela and Eichenberger putting a pair on target. Matias da Fonseca of Goshen and Everett Brace of Michigan-Dearborn each made 6 saves.
Goshen continues its jaunt around the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference on Saturday when it travels to Livonia, Michigan, to play Madonna University in a rematch of the 2007 NAIA Region VIII championship. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. at the Madonna Athletic Complex.
