CRESSON, Pa. – The final stats of the Geneva College women's soccer match at Mount Aloysius on Saturday afternoon showed a one-sided affair. Despite defending through a barrage of shots, Geneva put itself in position late to steal a win on the road, but a couple calls that went against the Golden Tornadoes helped enable Mount Aloysius to tie the score late, setting the stage for the Mounties to win in overtime, 2-1. Mount Aloysius improved to 2-1, while Geneva fell to 1-2.
The match proved to be one where Mount Aloysius was on the attack all game, applying pressure on the Geneva defense. The Golden Tornadoes proved effective at absorbing that attack for most of the match, and when senior
Erica Sumner scored a goal with just 27 seconds remaining in the half, against the run of play, Geneva headed to the halftime break clinging to a 1-0 lead.
Mount Aloysius got a break midway through the second half when senior goalkeeper
Danielle Lincoln (Milton, Pa./Milton) received two controversial yellow cards just four minutes apart, resulting in a red card and an ejection for Lincoln. Geneva was left with just ten players to finish off the final 20 minutes, and freshman midfielder
Katherine Estep (Dublin, Pa./Pennridge) was forced to replace Lincoln in goal with Geneva's regular backup goalkeeper unavailable.
Despite never having played the position, Estep stopped the penalty kick awarded to Mount Aloysius after Lincoln's red card, but the Mounties eventually broke through with just over two minutes remaining to tie score at 1-1, where things stayed heading into overtime.
It didn't take long for Mount Aloysius to find a winner. Just three minutes into the first overtime period, the Mounties' Kourtney Walls scored to end the game and send Mount Aloyisus to a 2-1 victory.
"This was a very frustrating way to end a match," said Head Coach
Linda Sumner. "We felt like, despite playing with a defensive posture most of the game, we put ourselves in position to win the game, but we had a couple calls go against us that really changed the game. I was proud of our team for the way it competed all day, even down to the closing moments when we were forced to play a player down."
Mount Aloysius finished the game with a commanding 29-3 advantage in shots, including a 12-3 edge in shots on goal. Lincoln stopped all eight shots on goal she faced before her ejection.
Geneva will now likely be without its starting goalkeeper for its next match when it hosts Franciscan on Wednesday afternoon at 5:00 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.
