ERIE, Pa. – The Geneva College men's soccer team earned its best win of the season on Wednesday night, defeating previously undefeated Penn State Behrend 2-1. Geneva improved to 3-2-3, while Behrend suffered its first loss of the season in dropping to 3-1-3.
The match was moved up to a 5:30 p.m. start because of the potential for strong storms later in the evening, and Geneva was better out of the gate. The Golden Tornadoes got on the board in the 17th minute when senior Antonio Fiordilino (McDonald, Pa./West Allegheny) got his head on a beautiful cross from sophomore Kyle Lapoure (Colorado Springs, Colo./The Classical Academy). Fiordilino's header from just three yards away grazed off the bottom of the cross bar and went into the goal, giving Geneva the early lead.
Behrend increased its pressure over the final 30 minutes of the half, as senior goalkeeper Gabriel Kemp (Normalville, Pa./Connellsville) was called on to keep the Lions off the board, and Geneva carried that lead into halftime.
Behrend was able to pull level in the 61st minute off a fortunate break for the Lions. A Geneva defender stepped in front of a Behrend cross and sent a long pass back to Kemp, but the pass ended up sailing over Kemp's head and just below the crossbar, giving Behrend an own goal.
Despite the disappointment, Geneva had an answer on some beautiful combination play in the 71st minute. Freshman George Cottenden (West Lake, Ohio/Westside Christian) flicked on a ball into the box that freshman Caleb Thompson (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) ran onto. Thompson sent a looping cross over a Behrend defender, which freshman Jeremy Thompson (Pottsgrove, Pa./Pottsgrove) got his foot on from eight yards out and sent a shot just inside the far post to give the Golden Tornadoes the lead back, 2-1.
The final 20 minutes brought some nervous moments for Geneva, who had to play the last 12 minutes down a man after being shown a red card. The Golden Tornadoes managed to hold on, though, and pull out a huge 2-1 win.
Behrend held a 6-3 advantage in shots on goal, with Kemp making every save except the own goal.
"This was such a tremendous win," said Head Coach Gary Dunda. "To come up here, missing a few guys, and find a way to come out victorious against a very talented team says a lot about the progress we are making. I was really proud of our resiliency in bouncing back and finding a winning goal after giving up an own goal, and I hope this is a turning point for our guys as we head into conference play."
Geneva will now head into Presidents' Athletic Conference play with some momentum. The Golden Tornadoes will kick off the conference season with a road game at Thiel on Friday beginning 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).
