GROVE CITY, Pa. – The Geneva College women's soccer team has seen definite improvement under first-year Head Coach Kelsey Morrison, but Friday afternoon's match at Grove City was a reminder there is still a ways to go to close the gap with the Wolverines, who are annually one of the top teams in the conference. Grove City scored three early goals and defeated the Golden Tornadoes, 5-1. Grove City improved to 6-6 overall, 3-1 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Geneva dropped to 3-9 overall, 2-2 in the PAC.
Grove City hit Geneva with immediate pressure early on, and the Golden Tornadoes struggled to contain Grove City's speed on the wings. It didn't take long for the Wolverines to get on the scoreboard when Megan Mathes got behind the Golden Tornado defense and scored just over three minutes into the game.
In the 19th minute, Geneva's defense failed to clear a cross, and Gianna D'Amato collected the ball and scored from close range to double the lead. Just over two minutes later, freshman goalkeeper Jade Farnsworth (New Brighton, Pa./Riverside) made a diving save, but the rebound bounced right to Grove City's Jacqui Netschert who tapped it in to increase Grove City's lead to 3-0 just over 20 minutes into the game.
The Golden Tornadoes finally started to settle down over the final 25 minutes of the half, maintaining more of the possession and getting forward a little better, and Geneva managed to keep the deficit at three goals heading into the break, despite the Wolverines holding a 16-1 edge in shots at the half.
The second half brought more of the same. Grove City added to their lead with goals in the 60th and 63rd minutes. Geneva's almost scored with five minutes remaining when junior Lydia Beare's (Mansfield, Ohio/Mansfield Christian) free kick from 25 yards away hit the cross bar. Geneva did eventually get on the board when freshman Abby Shoaff (Bessemer, Pa./Mohawk) got to a through ball before Grove City's keeper and managed to score with a minute remaining, preventing the shutout.
Grove City finished the game with a 29-9 advantage in shots, including a 13-4 edge in shots on goal. Farnsworth made eight saves.
The schedule stays challenging for the Golden Tornadoes, who return home to take on last year's PAC Champion, Chatham, on Wednesday 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 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).
