BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – It has felt as if the Geneva College women's soccer team has been hanging by a thread the last few weeks.  Key starters kept being lost to injuries or COVID protocols, to the point on Saturday the women had no subs.  The Golden Tornadoes received one reserve back from injury on Tuesday night, but true to form another starter was out due to injury, and things came crashing down against Franciscan on Tuesday night to the tune of a 6-0 defeat.  Franciscan improved to 3-3-2, 3-1-2 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Geneva dropped to 2-5, 2-5 in the PAC.

It's been a challenging season for the women's soccer team, with the loss of several starters and a last-minute coaching change prior to the beginning of the season.  It hasn't helped that tonight's match, along with Thursday's match against W&J, were originally scheduled for earlier in the season, but because of COVID problems within each of those programs, both matches were pushed to the final week of the season, meaning an already thin Geneva squad has four games in eight days to finish the season.

The match started well enough, with both teams having chances early.  Franciscan got on the board, though, in the 12^th minute on a header from Juliana Rubino, and things fell apart quickly.  The Barons scored again two minutes later to double their lead, and by the time the half was over, Franciscan led 5-0 and Rubino had a hat trick.

Franciscan scored again just four minutes into the second half, tallying the game's final score.  Freshman goalkeeper Julia Hart (Prospect, Pa./Slippery Rock) made several stops later in the second half, or the score could have been worse. 

Franciscan held big advantages in shots, 25-6, and shots on goal, 17-5.  The Barons also had an 8-1 edge in corner kicks.  With no subs, all eleven Golden Tornadoes played all 90 minutes, compared to 22 players who saw action for Franciscan.  Hart made 11 saves in the loss, with senior April Mann (Colorado Springs, Colo./Evangelical Christian Academy) and sophomore Katherine Estep (Dublin, Pa./Pennridge) leading the team with two shots apiece.

"This is really tough right now without having any subs," said Head Coach Doug Miller.  "We couldn't connect passes, and we couldn't capitalize on goal-scoring moments.  Our heads are held high, though, and our sprits aren't down.  I am proud of this team because of their effort and heart, and better days are ahead for this program as we transition and rebuild."

Geneva heads to W&J on Thursday for a match at 7:00 p.m. before finishing its season at home on Saturday with a 5:00 p.m. match on Senior Day with Westminster.


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).