BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – It felt like long time since the Geneva College women's soccer team opened the season with a win against Thiel last month. Over the past four weeks, the Golden Tornadoes have lost multiple starters to season-ending injuries, while seeing two of their games postponed due to COVID concerns within other programs. That all changed on Saturday night against Bethany, with the Golden Tornadoes having some fun in a 4-0 shutout of the Bison that began in sunshine but ended in the rain. That didn't dampen the mood for the ladies, who improved to 2-3, while Bethany dropped to 1-5.
Sophomore Kathrine Estep (Dublin, Pa./Pennridge) opened the scoring in the 14
th minute. Senior
April Mann (Colorado Springs, Colo./Evangelical Christian Academy) sent a cross through the box that met Estep on her back-post run to give Geneva an early 1-0 lead.
Geneva doubled its lead in the 36
th minute, with Mann at the center of things again. She ran onto a through ball from junior
Lexi Dell (Sarver, Pa./Freeport Area) and sent a cross into the box that found freshman
Katie Bodenmiller (Westfield, N.Y./Westfield Academy and Central) open, and her header from six yards out made it 2-0.
Geneva doubled its lead again early in the second half, with senior
Erin Houser (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) connecting twice with Dell just four minutes apart. In the 48
th minute, Houser was put through by a pass from Bodenmiller. Houser dribbled towards the goal from the right corner of the box, and as the goalie approached, Houser slotted a ball across the open net to an oncoming Dell, who had an easy tap-in from two yards out.
Less than four minute later, an almost identical sequence played out. This time it was Mann who put Houser in behind the defense, but farther into the right corner of the box. Houser sent a beautiful cross across the net to a back-post run from Dell, and she scored into the open net to make it 4-0.
The final 10 minutes of the game were played in a fairly steady rain, with the Golden Tornadoes having several chances to increase their lead before settling for the 4-0 victory. The game proved to be one of attrition, as Geneva entered the game with just two subs, and Bethany just one. That became a problem for the Bison, who saw three players go down with injuries and actually finished the game with only nine players on the field.
Though Geneva had far better scoring chances than Bethany, the shot totals were fairly even. The Golden Tornadoes held a 14-10 advantage in shots, including an 8-5 edge in shots on goal. Freshman
Julia Hart (Prospect, Pa./Slippery Rock) made all five saves to earn her second shutout of the season.
"What a night," exclaimed Head Coach
Doug Miller. "We really needed this win! It was great to see that confidence in our players again and to hear the communication between them. Our ball movement was really good tonight, and the ladies did exactly what we practiced. I feel for Bethany, though, with lots of banged up players. We know how that feels, and it's not fun. They hung in there and gave all they could."
Geneva's next scheduled game was going to be Tuesday at W&J, but that game has been postponed due to a COVID issue within the W&J program. So next up is a home match with Waynesburg next Saturday beginning 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 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).
