BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – It was the tale of two halves for the Geneva College men's soccer team on Wednesday night against Grove City. After having the better of the play in the first half that ended 1-1, Grove City took over in the second half, netting three goals in leaving Beaver Falls with a 4-1 victory. It ended Geneva's five game unbeaten streak against the Wolverines, dating back to 2014. With the win, Grove City took control of the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) regular season standings, improving to 9-1-3 overall, 2-0 in the PAC, while Geneva fell to 5-6-1, 2-2 in the PAC.
Despite having the better of the play, Geneva fell down early when Grove City's Jonathan Burton corralled an errant Golden Tornado clearance and hit a well-placed strike from outside the box to put the Wolverines up 1-0 in the 10
th minute. Geneva tied things up when junior
Devaughn Johns (Mt. Pleasant Mills, Pa./Midd-West) headed a shot towards net that a Grove City defender attempted to stop, but it deflected in off his leg. When the half finished, Geneva had outshot Grove City 5-1, including a 3-1 advantage in shots on goal.
The second half, though, proved a different story. Grove City came out strong and looked like the more dangerous team early, and the Wolverines were rewarded when Burton made a run into the box, through Geneva defenders, and found the back of the net again in the 54
th minute. Geneva responded with better play, and senior
Liam O'Halloran (Elyria, Ohio/Elyria Catholic) almost tied things back up when his curling shot from just outside the box hit the post in the 70
th minute. But as Geneva continued to push people forward looking for an equalizer, its backline opened up, and Grove City took advantage, scoring twice in the final ten minutes to put the game away, 4-1.
Geneva still finished the game with a 13-10 shot advantage, but Grove City had the better chances, and that showed in its 7-5 advantage in shots on goal. O'Halloran led the offense with four shots.
The Golden Tornadoes don't get much time to regroup, as they travel on Friday to take on a Washington & Jefferson squad at 5:30 p.m. that took Grove City to overtime on Friday night. Geneva won't return home for two weeks, with a game against Waynesburg on October 24 the next time the Golden Tornadoes will be on Reeves Field.
Geneva College is a Christ-centered academic community that provides a comprehensive education to equip students for faithful and fruitful service to God and neighbor. Offering over 80 traditional undergraduate majors and programs, fully online Adult Degree Programs, and high-demand graduate degrees, Geneva's programs are recognized for their high quality. U.S. News & World Report ranks Geneva as a Top Three Best Value Regional University with one of the Top 100 engineering programs in the nation. Adhering to the truth of Scripture, a Geneva education is grounded in God's Word as well as in a core curriculum designed to prepare students vocationally to think, write and communicate well in today's world.
