Aug. 29—GOSHEN — There aren’t many coaches who like it when a game ends in a tie. The way Saturday’s boys soccer clash between Northridge and Goshen went, though, left Northridge coach Lawrence Baltazar feeling as good as you can with tying an opponent.
Already down 1-0 and Goshen on the offensive, RedHawks junior Edgar Mora worked his way through the Raider defense and around Northridge goalie Diego Campos, setting up a clear lane to double up his team’s lead. His shot was intentionally knocked down with a hand, though, by Northridge junior Brady Gawthrop. By rule, that was an automatic red card, disqualifying Gawthrop from the game and leaving the Raiders down a man for the remaining 55 minutes of the contest.
This also set up a penalty kick chance for Goshen. Senior Carlos Castaneda was called upon to take the PK, and it seemed like the hosts were poised to go up 2-0. Campos had other ideas, though, making a big save to keep it a one goal game.
Then, with three seconds left in the first half, the Raiders drew a foul inside the Goshen goal box. This set up a penalty kick chance of their own, which junior Micah Wieland buried to tie the game right before halftime. Both teams would get great scoring chances in the second half, but none would go in, ending the game in a 1-1 draw between the two Northern Lakes Conference rivals.
“I’m OK with the effort we gave and staying in it, so yes — I don’t want to say I really want the ties or whatever, but even when we were down (a man), we were still trying to win,” Baltazar said. “We weren’t playing to hold on to the tie. We were trying to counter with some numbers; staying back, but then countering. … When you’re playing a team that’s this skilled and down a man, you shouldn’t be tying them. When we went down, we were down 1-0 and we were down a man. We shouldn’t (have tied), and we did. So, that’s a credit to the boys.”
On the other sideline, Goshen coach Viratham Mounsithiraj knew their best chance to add to their lead was in the first half.
“It’s a tie, but it’s disappointing,” Mounsithiraj said. “You can tell that by our kids. But, I’m proud of them. They played hard. (Northridge), they’re organized, that’s one thing for sure. I knew it was going to be tough to find a way to score in the second half because I knew they’d be a little more organized, and they did that.”
Mounsithiraj also praised the work of Campos from Northridge for keeping the RedHawks to just one goal.
“Their keeper was just phenomenal,” Mounsithiraj said. “I’m not sure how many shots he got his hands on, but it was just like, ‘Wow.’ And we talked about it at halftime: we have to find different ways to shoot. We just couldn’t shoot straight because if we did that, he was going to get his hands on it.”
Goshen (2-3-1, 1-0-1 NLC) controlled most of the game when the teams were at even strength as well. Multiple scoring chances finally culminated with a goal from Mora, giving the RedHawks a 1-0 lead less than eight minutes into the contest.
Northridge had a golden opportunity to take the lead on another PK chance from Wieland in the second half. Goshen sophomore goalkeeper Tomas Hernandez rose to the challenge, though, making a big save to keep the game tied with 24:18 remaining in the game.
The Raiders (4-2-1, 1-0-1 NLC) have played a strong schedule early in the season with a younger and less experienced roster. To be in the position they’re in right now is encouraging for Baltazar.
“I feel really good about it, and we’re going in the right direction,” Baltazar said. “We graduated all of those kids, and (the current players) know it’s not going to come easy for us. So, we just have to put in the work. It might be ugly sometimes, but if the goal is to get better with each game, then, hey, we have room to get better. That’s what we’re doing, and we’re going to make it tough for teams to knock us out.”
Northridge goes on the road for their next game, traveling to Ligonier Tuesday to take on West Noble in a non-conference contest. Goshen’s next game is also on the road when they visit defending conference champion Plymouth Thursday in another NLC showdown.
Austin Hough can be reached at austin.hough@goshennews.com or at 574-538-2360. Follow him on Twitter at @AustinHoughTGN.