BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – On a cold and wet evening, the Geneva College women's soccer team returned to action after fall break when it hosted Chatham at home on Wednesday evening in Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) action, but the Cougars proved too much for the Golden Tornadoes, winning 3-1.  Chatham improved to 5-4-4 overall, 2-0-2 in the PAC, while Geneva fell to 6-6, 1-2 in the PAC.

Chatham got on the board in the 14^th minute when Morgan Anderson ran onto a long ball and poked the ball past senior goalkeeper Danielle Lincoln (Milton, Pa./Milton Area) to give the Cougars an early lead.  Geneva could not generate much offense in the half, and Chatham doubled its lead in the 32^nd minute when Emily Nolan scored from ten yards out, enabling Chatham to take a 2-0 lead into halftime.  Geneva managed just one shot in the half, compared to seven from the Cougars.

Geneva's offense stirred early in the second half, and sophomore Lexi Dell (Sarver, Pa./Freeport Area) followed up on a rebound to pound home a shot from just two yards out to cut Chatham's lead to 2-1.  However, less than a minute later Chatham answered right back, as Paxton Steffy corralled her own blocked shot in Geneva's box and scored into the upper corner of the goal to immediately push the lead back to two goals, 3-1.  Junior Erin Houser (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) had a chance several minutes later when she found herself open from ten yards out in the Chatham box, but her shot was saved.  The game became a more open and back-and-forth affair the remainder of the game, but neither team could find another goal as Chatham closed out the victory.

"We just didn't play well enough in the first half to give ourselves a chance," said Head Coach Linda Sumner.  "This would have been a really big win for us, but we just can't afford to give up two goals in the first half against a team like Chatham and expect to come back.  I thought we played much more aggressively in the second half, but we just had too big of a hole to dig out of."

Chatham finished the game with a 14-6 edge in shots, including an 8-3 advantage in shots on goal.  Lincoln made five saves on the night.

Geneva is back on Reeves Field on Saturday for another PAC matchup when it hosts Saint Vincent at 3:00 p.m.


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 115 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 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.