BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College women's soccer team picked the wrong night to have an off night, and it may prove to be a costly result as the Golden Tornadoes were shut out by Washington & Jefferson, 2-0, on Friday at home.  W&J improved to 5-7-3, 3-0-3 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Geneva fell to 8-7, 3-3 in the PAC.

Geneva came into the night knowing the match had extra importance, with both teams battling for one of the four PAC playoff spots available, with the winner gaining the upper hand for the spots behind the top two teams, Westminster and Grove City.  On this night, that played to W&J's benefit.

W&J came out the more aggressive team early in the match, and it was rewarded in the 19^th minute when a loose ball in the box off a corner kick was laid back to the Presidents' Hannah Johnston, and she put a curling shot into the far post from 15 yards out to give W&J the early lead.  The Golden Tornadoes had more of the possession in the half, but they struggled to break down the Presidents' defense, and they went to the halftime break trailing by one. 

Geneva's frustrations continued into the second half, as the Golden Tornadoes failed to generate any good scoring chances.  W&J put the game away in the 69^th minute when Katie Hahn made a long dribbling run into the Geneva box, and she scored just after she entered the box on a shot to the right of senior goalkeeper Danielle Lincoln (Milton, Pa./Milton), giving W&J an insurance goal that it eventually did not end up needing.  The Presidents then closed out the 2-0 victory and put themselves in prime position to qualify for one of the PAC playoff spots.

"This was a frustrating performance," said Head Coach Linda Sumner.  "W&J is a quality team, and we knew we would have to play well to pick up a result, but we just didn't have it tonight.  We struggled in W&J's third of the field, and they took advantage of the chances they created.  We're not out of the playoff race yet, but our backs are certainly against the wall now."

W&J finished with just a slight edge in shots, 8-7, but the Presidents held a 5-1 advantage in shots on goal.  Lincoln finished with three saves on the night.

Geneva now finds itself in the difficult position of needing to likely win its last two matches to make it into the playoffs.  Both of those games are on the road, beginning with a match at Waynesburg on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.  The Golden Tornadoes then close out the regular season with a road match at first-place Westminster on Saturday at 4:30 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.