The Golden Tornadoes are competing in their first season as a full member of NCAA Division III and the Presidentsâ?? Athletic Conference. On Saturday night, the Geneva football team hosted its first conference home game against Bethany and it was once again a difficult pill to swallow for the Golden Tornadoes. The menâ??s soccer team got a difficult test against top ranked Messiah on Saturday after taking care of Marietta earlier in the week. In womenâ??s soccer, Geneva dropped a pair of shut-out losses to two scholarship programs. The highlights of the week came in the form of a thrilling victory on Saturday in womenâ??s tennis, a tournament championship for womenâ??s volleyball and another solid performance from the cross country teams at Saint Vincent College.

Bethany College brought its version of a high powered offense to Reeves Field on Saturday night and scored on four of its first five possessions on its way to a 48-27 victory over the Golden Tornadoes. Geneva fell to 0-4 for the season and 0-2 in the conference. In what is a true testament of how good Geneva football has been over the last several decades, it is the first 0-4 start for a Geneva football team since 1978. Geneva showed some solid promise on the offensive end of the field with 74 rushing yards from Rocco Collevecchia to go along with a pair of Collevecchia touchdown passes to Corey Oâ??Patchen and AJ Delmonico. Vince Larson also caught a touchdown pass thrown by Zack Hayward. Geneva will look for its first PAC victory next Saturday when it hosts Saint Vincent in a 4 p.m. homecoming kick-off.

Menâ??s soccer head coach Gary Dunda welcomed his alma mater Messiah College to Reeves Field on Saturday afternoon and his former Falcons were not very friendly guests. The defending NCAA Division III champs and currently top ranked Falcons cruised to an 8-0 victory over Geneva. Earlier in the week, the Golden Tornadoes had extended their win streak to five games with a 2-0 victory over Marietta. Garrett Masters and Jake McCracken each scored as Bryan Butler registered his third shut-out of the season. McCracken scored his team leading ninth goal and tied a school record by scoring at least one goal in five consecutive games. Geneva takes its 6-2-1 overall record into a new week that will feature the PAC opener on Saturday afternoon.

The womenâ??s soccer team has fallen into an offensive drought. The Golden Tornadoes dropped a 4-0 decision to Ursuline on Wednesday before falling 1-0 at Carlow on Saturday afternoon. Playing a pair of scholarship NAIA schools on the road proved to be no easy task for the Golden Tornadoes as they dropped to 3-5-1 on the season. Genevaâ??s women will also begin PAC play on Saturday morning when Washington & Jefferson comes to town.

Deanna Briody averaged 11.5 assists in three victories over the weekend at the Marietta College Tournament. The Golden Tornadoes swept three matches against Washington & Lee, John Carroll and Marietta to capture the tournament title. On Friday night, the Golden Tornadoes defeated previously undefeated Washington & Lee 3-1 with Briody picking up 46 assists. She equaled that total in the final match of the weekend in a 3-1 win over host Marietta. Brianna Mixter was solid on defense leading Geneva in digs in each of the three matches while the foursome of Kristland McCracken, Maggie Bowersox, Ashley Davis and Rachel Kuegler continued to be solid at the net. Geneva is currently 10-6 including a perfect 5-0 record that has them a top the PAC standings.

Kara Zimmerman dropped the first game of her #1 singles match 6-2 on Saturday at Chatham University. Fortunately for the Zimmerman and the Golden Tornadoes she was able to rally to win the second and third sets to capture the singles victory that proved to be the difference in Genevaâ??s 5-4 win against the Cougars. It was the second time in two weeks that a Geneva player had rallied back from down a set to win a singles match that was the difference in a 5-4 victory. Julie Kline, Alison Beattie and Alyssa Kuhn each won their singles matches to help the Golden Tornadoes defeat Chatham. Geneva is 2-4 on the season, including a 2-3 mark within the Presidentsâ?? Athletic Conference.

Nick Edinger continues to pace the Geneva College menâ??s cross country team. On Saturday at Saint Vincent, Edinger finished second out of 98 runners to help the Golden Tornadoes to a third place overall finish. Charles Walters (20), Owen Struck (25), Jacob Beschner (33) and Nate Mansor (34) each finished in the top 50 to help the cause. Freshman Heidi Steiner finished 12th overall in the womenâ??s race to lead Geneva to a fourth place finish. Teammates Shannon Rech (19), Emily Hoobler (22) and Anna Kluitenberg (26) were also solid on Saturday. After a week off, the cross country team will be back in action at CMU on October 8.

Following is the complete athletic schedule for the upcoming week:

News & Highlights

...more

This Week's Games

*HOME GAMES IN BOLD