BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College women's lacrosse team hosted its first ever home match on Saturday in frigid conditions.  The Golden Tornadoes hung with West Virginia Wesleyan early in their match at Wright Fields, but the Bobcats eventually pulled away for a 15-2 win.

The excitement of the first-year varsity program has been met by the unpredictable Pennsylvania weather in late February and early March.  The women opened their season earlier this week in rain and upper 30-degree weather at La Roche on Wednesday.  On Saturday, the precipitation turned to snow flurries as the temperature was in the 20s, with a sharp wind that dropped the wind chill into single digits.

Geneva saw improvement from its play in the opener against La Roche as the women played West Virginia Wesleyan even for the first ten minutes of the game.  However, the Bobcats scored ten times over the next 11 minutes of game action into the second quarter, taking a 10-0 lead into the break.

The women came out of the locker room with renewed energy, despite the chilly conditions, and sophomore Julianna Easley got Geneva on the board with a goal just over two minutes into the third quarter.  Nine minutes later, Easley assisted on a goal by freshman Amanda Gillette late in the quarter to make it two straight Golden Tornado goals.

West Virginia Wesleyan closed out the scoring, though, with the final five goals of the game, allowing both teams to head back into the locker room to regain feeling in their hands and feet.

Easley led the team with three shots, all on goal, with a goal and assist to go with three caused turnovers.  Gillette and freshman Madi DeRuiter led the team with five ground balls each.  Gillette added four caused turnovers and five draw controls to her totals, while junior Hannah Skwarek posted four caused turnovers and DeRuiter three caused turnovers.  Freshman Lexi Lee made 13 saves in goal for the women.

The women will return to action next Wednesday with a 5:00 p.m. match at Buffalo State.