STEUBENVILLE, Ohio – Two days after suffering a late-game loss at Allegheny, the Geneva College women's soccer team turned the tables when freshman Lillie Berryman (Mansfield, Ohio/Mansfield Christian) scored with a minute remaining at Franciscan to give the women their best win of the season, 2-1 over the Barons.  Geneva improved to 3-8 overall, 2-1 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Franciscan suffered its first conference loss of the season in falling to 5-4 overall, 2-1 in the PAC.

Despite the heartbreaking overtime loss on Monday night at Allegheny, the women came in playing their best soccer of the season, having lost close matches to good teams in Pitt-Greensburg, Baldwin Wallace and Allegheny over the past two weeks.  And it was only five months ago during the spring season that Franciscan easily defeated Geneva 6-0.

Geneva was the better team for most of the first half, and the Golden Tornadoes were rewarded for their better play in the 36^th minute when freshman Jenna Hartman (Beaver Falls, Pa./Homeschool) had a good touch pass from just outside the box to put sophomore Katie Bodenmiller (Westfield, N.Y./Westfield Academy and Central) in on goal, and Bodenmiller left no doubt with a blast into the back of the net to put Geneva on the board. 

Four minutes later Geneva would have doubled the lead if not for the strong work of Franciscan goalie Rebekka Dill.  Hartman had a shot ticketed for a goal that Dill just pushed onto the crossbar, and a moment later she made a diving stop on a shot from Bodenmiller, which kept the Geneva lead at 1-0 heading into the break.  The Golden Tornadoes outshot the Barons 13-8 in the half.

Franciscan came out the stronger team in the second half.  The Barons almost equalized three minutes into the half when Tania Davidson's shot bounced off the crossbar.  Franciscan kept up the pressure through the first 30 minutes of the half and finally broke through when Davidson collected a rebound in the box and scored in the 74^th minute to pull the Barons level.

Geneva seemed to respond with a burst after the Franciscan goal, gaining better possession and moving forward.  The game look like it might be headed to another overtime, though, when Geneva earned a corner kick with just over a minute remaining in regulation.  Berryman's corner into the middle was headed right back out to her.  She collected the ball and sent another ball into the box that perfectly curled just inside the near post to give the Golden Tornadoes the dramatic winner and Berryman her first career goal.

"Our consistency finally paid off with a result on the scoreboard tonight," said Head Coach Kelsey Morrison about her best win since joining the program over the summer.  "We've been building towards this day in and day out, trusting the process.  I'm extremely proud of our fight and desire across the board!"

Geneva finished the game with a 17-13 advantage in shots, including an 11-8 edge in shots on goal.  Freshman Jade Farnsworth (New Brighton, Pa./Riverside) was strong in goal for the Golden Tornadoes, making six saves along with making several key reads to come off her line and help clear balls over the top of Geneva's defense.

The schedule gets even tougher for Geneva over the next week.  The Golden Tornadoes travel to Grove City on Friday afternoon for a 4:30 p.m. match to face a Wolverines squad that has won the last 15 games in the series.  Geneva hasn't defeated Grove City since 1999.  Then next Wednesday the Golden Tornadoes return home to host last season's PAC Champions, Chatham.

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).