BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – It was a heartbreaking finish for the Geneva men's soccer team Wednesday night, as the Golden Tornadoes lost to Baldwin Wallace on a late penalty kick despite scoring three goals in the match. The GTs were very strong early on in the attack, but could not ride the hot start to victory as they fell 4-3. With the loss, Geneva's record slips to 0-2, while the Yellow Jackets move up to 1-2.

The men got things going right away to open the first half. In just the 2^nd minute, senior George Cottenden beat his defender and dribbled into the left side of the box, sending a crossing pass on the ground to sophomore Luke Main, who was waiting in the middle. As the goalkeeper came up to defend Main, the sophomore flicked the ball onward to senior Wil Dunda who punched it into the back of the net, giving Geneva a 1-0 lead early.

Dunda had another opportunity just one minute later, finding himself with the ball inside the box once again, but the Baldwin Wallace goalkeeper dove left to make the save. That was the end of the early threats by Geneva as both sides seemed to settle in after that, with a missed header by freshman Travis Miller in the 13^th minute proving to be the next-best opportunity the Golden Tornadoes had in the first 30 minutes.

Geneva's next goal came in the 32^nd minute, with freshman Msafiri Amisi starting the play off by slipping by his defender and punching the ball into the box. Freshman Luke Kost ran onto it, and kept it at his feet through three different defenders, finally getting off a pass into the center of the box. Freshman Elijah Jurisch was well-positioned, receiving the pass and burying the ball to give the men a 2-0 lead. Unfortunately, the Yellow Jackets scored just two minutes later off a free kick by Mathew Skladany, and 2-1 was where the score remained into the halftime break.

The GTs came out of the break with a new energy, being awarded a penalty kick in the 54^th minute as Cottenden went down inside the 18-yard line. Dunda took the shot cleanly, knocking the ball into the top right corner, and at 3-1, it seemed as though the men were in a good spot.

The Yellow Jackets scored 14 minutes later to cut the difference back to one, which made things more tenuous. After a chippy next few minutes that saw several fouls called on both sides, the Baldwin Wallace keeper sent a booming pass over the top that was deflected by a Geneva defender and fell at the feet of Skladany. He calmly put the shot past freshman goalkeeper Ian Lewis, and just like that, the match was tied. Cottenden received his second yellow card immediately after the ensuing kickoff, getting sent off with the resulting red, and just 30 seconds later the Yellow Jackets were awarded a penalty kick on another Geneva foul. Skladany made it to complete the hat trick, and the visitors held on for a 4-3 victory.

Dunda finished with two goals on four shots, including three shots on target, to lead the men in scoring. Jurisch knocked in one goal, and Cottenden, Main, and Kost were all credited with assists. Lewis made four saves in net for the Golden Tornadoes.

The men remain at home for their next match, a 1:00 p.m. tilt against RIT this Saturday, September 6^th. That will be the third match in a four-game homestand to open the season, with the final one coming next Wednesday against Mount Aloysius.

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