BETHANY, W.Va. – The Geneva College men's soccer team appears to be playing its best soccer of the season at just the right time, with the regular season coming to a close and the playoffs just over the horizon. On Tuesday afternoon the Golden Tornadoes earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Bethany on the strength of freshman Kyle Lapoure's (Colorado Springs, Colo./The Classical Academy) first-half goal off a set piece. With the victory, Geneva won its third straight and improved its record to 6-7-2 overall, 4-3 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC). Bethany dropped to 6-6-1, 3-4 in the PAC.
Neither team could generate much offense over the first 30 minutes of the match. Geneva then earned a free kick 40 yards from goal and converted it into a goal in the 36th minute. Junior Noah Abdel-Nabi (Recklinghausen, Germany/Recklinghausen) took the free kick and sent a ball to the far post deep in the box, which senior Ian Gelsinger (Greencastle, Pa./Greencastle-Antrim) headed back across the goal into the oncoming run of Lapoure. Lapoure headed the ball into the open net from three yards out, sending the Golden Tornadoes into the half with a 1-0 lead.
Geneva's PAC-leading defense took over from there. The Bison pushed forward looking for the equalizer in the second half, particularly the last ten minutes, but the Geneva defense and junior goalkeeper Gabe Kemp (Normalville, Pa./Connellsville) refused to concede a goal and closed out the 1-0 victory.
Bethany finished the game with a slim 12-10 edge in shots, though each team finished with four shots on goal. Kemp made all four saves to earn his fifth shutout of the season, tops in the PAC.
Geneva has placed itself in great position to make the PAC playoffs with the victory, and the Golden Tornadoes will have the opportunity to have at least one home match in the playoffs with a strong finish to the regular season. Up next for Geneva is Senior Day, which the Golden Tornadoes will celebrate when W&J comes to town this Saturday, beginning at 7:00 p.m., for the final regular season home game of the season.
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 145 traditional undergraduate majors and programs, fully online Adult Degree Programs and high-demand graduate degrees, Geneva's programs are recognized for their high quality. Geneva has one of the top 100 undergraduate engineering programs in the nation, according to
U.S. News and World Report. 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. Geneva was founded and is governed by the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA) and is a founding member of both the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) and IACE (International Association for Christian Education).
