BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College women's soccer team was one of the last teams in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) to open conference play, but the Golden Tornadoes made sure their start was a good one as Geneva defeated the Thiel Tomcats on Saturday afternoon, 3-2, behind a game-winning goal from freshman Olivia Mincone (East Northport, N.Y./Northport) midway through the second half.  Geneva improved to 5-4 overall, 1-0 in the PAC, while Thiel fell to 4-7, 0-2 in the PAC.

Thiel came out the aggressor early on, and the Tomcats were rewarded just over ten minutes into the game when Thiel's Madison Acor received the second ball off a corner kick and scored from just in front of the goal, giving Thiel a 1-0 advantage.

The Tomcats barely had a chance to enjoy their early lead when, just one minute later, junior Erin Houser (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) took a pass from junior April Mann (Colorado Springs, Colo./Evangelical Christian Academy) and lofted a shot from 30 yards out just over the outstretched leap of Thiel's goalkeeper, evening the score at 1-1.  That goal seemed to energize the Golden Tornadoes, who began to dominate possession and pressure the Thiel goal.

Geneva took its first lead of the match in the 39^th minute when senior Erica Sumner (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian) took a short pass from Mann inside the box and scored just inside the far post to send Geneva to a 2-1 halftime lead.

Geneva continued its strong offensive play and had chances early in the second half to increase its lead, but Thiel took advantage of an inadvertent Geneva handball in the box, as Thiel's Emma Polinski converted a penalty kick against the run of play, knotting the score at 2-2. 

Once again, though, Geneva didn't take long to respond to the Tomcats' goal.  This time it was Mincone who made a run into Thiel's side of the field and took a shot from 25 yards out that just dipped under the crossbar, eluding the Thiel goalkeeper's attempt to reach the shot, giving Geneva back the lead, 3-2.  This time Geneva was able to close out the Tomcats, not allowing any more real chances for Thiel, which enabled Geneva to hold on for its first PAC victory of the season.

"It's always important to start conference play with a victory," said Head Coach Linda Sumner.  "We probably made things a little more difficult on ourselves by not converting some more of our chances, but I'm really proud of the way the team responded quickly after each Thiel goal.  It was nice to see Olivia get her first goal of the season, and it couldn't have come at a better time."

Geneva held a 24-13 advantage in shots, including a 13-7 edge in shots on goal.  Sumner finished with a game high six shots, while Houser was also active with five.  Senior goalkeeper Danielle Lincoln (Milton, Pa./Milton Area) made five saves to pick up the win.

Geneva is back in action on Wednesday for its final non-conference match of the season against Oberlin.  Kickoff is at 7:00 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.