PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Geneva College women's lacrosse era opened on a rainy, cold afternoon on Wednesday.  The Golden Tornadoes made the short trip down to La Roche and lost 22-2 in their first varsity competition.

Head Coach Liz Geyer knew the challenges that would face the first-year program, especially after she got a late start in the program building process with her hiring at the beginning of the school year.  Geyer spent much of the past six months building a roster and teaching the game to a number of new players.

La Roche, a squad picked to finish second in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference, jumped ahead early behind the play of the AMCC Preseason Player of the Year, Jade Fuccaro.  The Redhawks scored the first eight goals of the contest before sophomore Julianna Easley broke through late in the first quarter to give Geneva its first varsity goal.

In fact, the last four minutes of the first quarter were Geneva's best stretch of the first half, with the Golden Tornadoes controlling the possession for much of that time and generating multiple shots on goal.

Geneva couldn't keep the momentum going, though, and La Roche pulled away throughout the remainder of the rainy game.  Easley provided the women with another goal in the fourth quarter to wrap up the scoring.

Freshman Taylor Robinson led the team with three ground balls, while freshmen Amanda Gillette and Madi DeRuiter each forced two caused turnovers.

Geneva will now look forward to its first home game this Saturday when the women welcome West Virginia Wesleyan for a 1:00 p.m. start.  All Geneva's home matches this year will be hosted at Wright Fields in Chippewa, ten minutes from campus.