TORIN O’BRIEN
Special to The Leader
As the clouds gathered over University Stadium the Fredonia Blue Devils and Geneva Golden Tornadoes gathered for a battle on the pitch. With the 2-1 win the Blue Devils moved to 4-1 overall on the season, while the previously undefeated Geneva dropped to 4-1-1.
After Saturday’s victory over Geneva, Fredonia seems to be in a good spot with conference play just over the horizon.
Coming off a solid weekend in which the Blue Devils split games, the same intensity showed in their game against Mount Saint Mary was there during the opening minutes of play on Saturday.
Scoring came early for Fredonia, which hadn’t netted a first-half goal in their previous three outings. In the 22nd minute of play, sophomore midfielder Max Prosser was able to win the ball in a crowded box. His shot found paydirt, after deflecting off a Geneva defender, to give the Blue Devils a 1-0 lead.
After that it was back-and-forth, gritty soccer with neither team able to find the back of the net. That is, until the 71st minute of play.
Sophomore midfielder Paul Reinis was able to notch his first goal of the season after a nice feed from teammate Vinny Chimento. After receiving the pass, Reinis was able to show off some of his skill by beating two Geneva defenders and burying it to give Fredonia the 2-0 advantage.
Just over two minutes after Fredonia found some breathing room, Geneva was able to net its only goal. Junior forward P.J. Luksik was able to get a pass through to Nate Musselman, who found nylon for Geneva.
Compared to their previous two matchups against Mount Saint Mary and Houghton, Saturday’s affair was a shootout; Fredonia outshot the Golden Tornados 16-11.
Akron native Sammy Torrelli was able to get his fourth NCAA victory by making four saves in net for Fredonia.
The Blue Devils’ next home game will be their SUNYAC conference opener against Geneseo. The game is Sept. 26 at 4 p.m.