Bethany, WV - It is been over a month since the Geneva College men′s soccer team had to respond to a loss. Head coach Gary Dunda must have liked what he saw on Wednesday as the Golden Tornadoes bounced back from a loss to Grove City with a convincing 7-1 victory over Bethany. Perhaps even more impressive was the way Geneva responded after the Bison stunned Geneva with the opening goal of the match just 15 seconds into the match.
"We weren′t ready to play," said Dunda. "Give them credit for jumping on us early, but I was thrilled with the way our guys rallied after that initial adversity." It didn′t take long for the Golden Tornadoes to get going as they were finally able to find the net for the first time in five matches in the first half. The Golden Tornadoes were issued a total of 21 corner kicks in the match and were able to take advantage of two in the first half. David Harwood put away a Kenton Burckhart corner to tie the game in the seventh minute. Just four minutes later, it was Jake McCracken finishing a Burckhart corner to give Geneva its first lead of the match.
Leading 2-1, Geneva opened the flood gates with two more goals before halftime. Gabe Kleinert and Jeremy Peachey each scored to extend the halftime lead to 4-1. A pair of goals from Austin Petrie and a final tally from Garrett Masters closed out the scoring as Geneva defeated Bethany going away in the final half. "We were finally able to finish some chances," Dunda said. "We have been a bit snake-bitten at times this year and it was nice to see some of the guys able to put the ball in the net."
Geneva improved to 11-2-1 with the victory including nine victories in its last ten matches. The schedule doesn′t get any easier for the Golden Tornadoes as their lengthy road trip continues on Saturday at Washington & Jefferson. Geneva′s final home match of the season will come on October 30th against Saint Vincent College.
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