Geneva College Athletics

Beaver Falls, PA—On a cold and rainy Wednesday night Geneva College's men's soccer team advanced to the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) championship game on the strength of a late overtime goal by Michael Pohlod to defeat Grove City 1-0.  Geneva improved its overall record to 14-3-2, while Grove City finished out its season at 10-5-4.

The first half went about as expected from two teams that came in with identical 6-1-1 records in the PAC, with that tie being a 1-1 draw three weeks earlier at Grove City between these two teams.  Neither team was able to generate much in the way of scoring chances, though Grove City did outshoot Geneva 5-2.

The first major scoring chance occurred in the 54^th minute when a Geneva turnover at midfield allowed a Grove City striker to go in alone on goal.  Geneva goalkeeper Luke Nolan came up huge by coming off his line and cutting down the angle, allowing him to deflect the shot wide and keep the game scoreless.

Geneva's best chance in the second half occurred in the 68^th minute when Liam O'Halloran muscled his way into the box and found himself in on goal, only to be taken down from behind.  The referee, though, did not decide to give the penalty, allowing play to continue, much to the displeasure of the Geneva coaching staff and their fans.  Fortunately for Geneva, the lack of a call did not end up costing it in the end.

Neither team was able to find a winner during the remainder of regulation, and the game headed to overtime.  After a scoreless first overtime, it appeared the game was likely headed to penalty kicks when, with 1:21 remaining in the second overtime period, Pohlod dribbled the ball to the corner of the box and hit a curling shot that eluded the diving Grove City goalie and nestled its way just inside the far post.  The goal gave Geneva the game winner they had been looking for all night and set off a wild celebration for the Golden Tornadoes inside the Grove City box.

"Tonight was just another classic Grove City and Geneva soccer game," a rain soaked Head Coach Gary Dunda stated after the game.  "Grove City is really good, well coached.  Those guys do it the right way, and once again we just persevered.  They had us in the first half, and I thought we had some nice changes at halftime, and we just kept the pressure.  We earned it in the second half, and it was great to see Mike Pohlod with good jump in his legs find the back of the net.  Now we head back down to Thomas More in Kentucky for one more step.  It's a great senior class and this is their third consecutive conference final, so kudos to the seniors who just have one more step to take."

Grove City outshot Geneva 14-11, but Geneva got the only one that mattered.  Nolan was key in goal, earning the shutout by stopping all seven shots on goal that he faced, including the breakaway midway through the second half that kept the game scoreless.

Geneva will now head to Kentucky to face the #1 seed Thomas More Saints for the PAC championship at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 4.  A win on Saturday would make it two straight PAC championships for the men's soccer program and would send them off to another NCAA Division III tournament.