BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College men's soccer team maintained its stranglehold on first place in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) conference with an impressive 3-0 shutout against Washington & Jefferson on a cold and rainy night. The men also celebrated their two graduating seniors, Antonio Fiordilino and Stone Seip, prior to the game. The Golden Tornadoes have now won seven straight games, including six shutouts, and improved to 10-4-1 overall, 7-0 in the PAC. The win also broke a six-game winless streak to the Presidents.
The celebration for the seniors carried right into the first half. The Golden Tornadoes played one of their best halves of the season, dominating in just about every way. Senior Carnel Kerr, who intends to return next year for an extra season, got Geneva on the board in the 16th minute. Sophomore George Cottenden received a pass and made a dribbling run down the left side before passing the ball to Kerr in the middle of the box. Kerr shielded his defender and then turned and hit a shot across the goal and into the net, giving the Golden Tornadoes an early 1-0 lead.
It took less than three minutes for that pair to work their magic again. This time Cottenden stole the ball from a W&J defender 30 yards from goal and dribbled into the box on a 2-on-1 break. Once he made the defender commit to him, he slotted a perfect ball into the box where Kerr was all alone with the goalie, and Kerr left no doubt in doubling the lead less than 19 minutes into the game.
The men kept up their pressure the entire first half, with the ball rarely spending much time on Geneva's defensive half of the field. The Golden Tornadoes tripled their lead with just over three minutes remaining before the break. Junior Caleb Chambers sent a corner kick into the box that was deflected high into the air. When the ball landed, it bounced around for a moment before squirting out to sophomore Caleb Thompson at the top of the box, and Thompson blasted one into the net to give Geneva 3-0 advantage heading into the break. The Golden Tornadoes held an 11-0 advantage in shots at halftime.
The second half was a more even affair as Geneva seemed to relax some with the big lead. The men had a couple decent chances to add to their lead, including a shot from Cottenden early in the second half that hit the post.
Junior goalkeeper Evan Shale wasn't tested much in the game, but he did come up with an impressive save midway through the second half. A loose ball in the Geneva box fell to W&J's Jimmy Gogol, who found himself all alone with Shale eight yards from goal, but Shale made a big quick-reflex save on Gogol's shot to keep the Presidents off the board. Geneva saw the game out from there in posting a 3-0 shutout.
The final stats reflected the dominant performance the men put together. Geneva held a 17-3 edge in shots, including an 8-2 advantage in shots on goal. The men also managed an 8-3 edge in corner kicks. Shale made two saves to post his eighth shutout of the season, which now puts him in a tie for the fourth most shutouts in a single season in school history. The eight shutouts are also tied for third in all of NCAA Division III.
Geneva can almost clinch the top spot in the PAC regular season standings on Wednesday when the men travel to Franciscan for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff. The Barons are currently a game and half behind the Golden Tornadoes in the standings with just three games left to play.
Through purposeful learning in a community reflecting the full spectrum of God's kingdom, a Geneva College experience inspires students to discover a faith-life calling in service to God and neighbor. Offering 195+ traditional undergraduate majors and programs, fully online Adult Degree Programs and high-demand graduate degrees, Geneva's programs are recognized for their high quality and affordability. 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 the International Association for Christian Education (IACE).
