WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Geneva College men's soccer traveled to Washington & Jefferson on Saturday night for the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship match, the Golden Tornadoes fourth appearance in five years in the title game.  Unfortunately, Geneva could not keep pace with the high-powered Presidents, losing 4-2.  The defeat finished out the season for Geneva with a 10-9-1 record, while W&J earned the PAC's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III tournament.

The Golden Tornadoes entered Saturday night's championship match having won six of its last seven matches, but the one loss was a 4-1 defeat to the same Presidents squad Geneva was facing on Saturday.  The two teams entered with contrasting styles, with the Golden Tornadoes relying on the PAC-leading defense to navigate its way to the championship match, while W&J came in with the PAC-leading offense.

The Golden Tornadoes would have preferred to keep it a low-scoring affair, but W&J put Geneva in an early hole when the Presidents scored just 12 minutes into the match off the foot of Jake Fetterman.  However, senior Michael Pohlod (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine Richland) scored in the 20^th minute when he received a long ball, beat his defender and scored from just inside the box to draw the Golden Tornadoes level at 1-1.

Geneva almost made it to halftime even until, with five minutes remaining, a Geneva foul just outside the box gave the Presidents a golden chance to retake the lead, and W&J's Alvaro Viadas' free kick deflected off the Geneva wall and into the net to send the Presidents into the halftime break with a 2-1 lead.

That goal changed the complexion of the match for Geneva entering the second half, knowing it would need to find another goal to even things back up.  Unfortunately, the match got away from Geneva early in the final period.  W&J scored twice in the first eleven minutes of the half, the second coming on a penalty kick by Fetterman.  The two goals blew the game open, leaving the Golden Tornadoes staring at a huge deficit to overcome to keep their season alive, which ultimately proved to be too great of a task.  Sophomore Ian Gelsinger (Greencastle, Pa./Greencastle-Antrim) headed one home with two seconds remaining for the final score, 4-2.

"I am proud of how hard the boys have played all year," said Head Coach Gary Dunda.  "Tonight was not our night, but the journey to this point has been a great one.  I love our four seniors, and they will be greatly missed."

W&J held a 23-14 advantage in shots, including an 11-7 edge in shots on goal.  W&J also had an 8-1 edge in corner kicks.  Freshman Noah Abdel-Nabi (Recklinghausen, Germany/Recklinghausen) had three shots, all on goal.  Freshman goalkeeper Gabe Kemp (Normalville, Pa./Connellsville) made seven stops in the match.  Gelsinger, Kemp and Pohlod were all named to the PAC All-Tournament team for their play this week.

With the loss on Saturday, Geneva's season comes to an end, along with the standout careers of Pohlod, Jake Broadwick (Aliquippa, Pa./Robinson Township Christian), Devaughn Johns (Mount Pleasant Mills, Pa./Midd-West) and James Mincone (East Northport, N.Y./Northport).  The four seniors finished their careers with three PAC Championship game appearances, including one PAC Championship.


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.