TRAFFORD, Pa. - Top-seeded Geneva College and third-seeded Grove City College came away with victories Wednesday night in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Men's Soccer Tournament semifinals to advance to Saturday's championship match.

The Golden Tornadoes (11-4-4) erased an early deficit by scoring the final three goals of the match to win a 3-1 decision at home over fourth-seeded Waynesburg University (10-7-2). Meanwhile, Grove City (9-5-5) scored two early goals to take control on the road at second-seeded Franciscan University (11-5-3) and added two late goals to clinch a 4-1 victory over the Barons and move into Saturday's final.

Saturday's final, which will be a 7 pm kickoff at Geneva's Reeves Field, will be a rematch of a 1-0 Golden Tornadoes' triumph in the Oct. 7 regular season meeting in Beaver Falls. The lone goal was scored in the 41st minute by Geneva senior Antonio Fiordilino (McDonald, Pa./West Allegheny) and junior keeper Evan Shale (Duncansville, Pa./Hollidaysburg) stopped five shots in the shutout.

Geneva is in pursuit of its second PAC championship and first since 2016. Grove City has two conference crowns in their program history, with the last coming in 2005. 

The Geneva/Waynesburg semifinal was a rematch of a wild regular season finale that saw three goals scored in the final seven minutes of a 3-3 draw. This had a similiar start, with a pair of goals in the first 10 minutes. The Yellow Jackets struck first when they were awarded a penalty kick following a Geneva foul and senior Tyler Mohrbacher (Freedom, Pa./Freedom) converted for a 1-0 Waynesburg lead at the 8:12 mark.

The Golden Tornadoes came right back just 1:28 later when junior Kyle Lapoure (Colorado Springs, Colo./The Classical Academy) scored off an assist from junior Dominic Sambuco (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) to even the score at 1-1. Geneva, who had a 13-2 shot advantage and several high-quality scoring chances in the first half, moved into the lead for good in the 26th minute off a goal from sophomore Wil Dunda (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley) and they took a 2-1 lead into halftime.

Geneva posted four more shots in the first seven minutes of the second half before striking again. A foul gave the GTs a free kick and when the ball was played into the box, a crisp series of passes put the ball on the foot of senior Carnel Kerr (Flankers, Jamaica/Carlynton), who finished to extend the Golden Tornadoes' lead to 3-1 in the 59th minute. Sophomore Gabe Singh (Valencia, Pa./Mars), who assisted on Dunda's goal, also assisted on Kerr's for his second point of the night.

The Geneva defense controlled the rest of the match, allowing only one shot in the second half and three for the match. Geneva's Shale needed to make just one save in the victory, while on the other end, Waynesburg junior keeper Michael Francus (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) made six saves, including several diving stops, to keep the Yellow Jackets within striking distance.

In the semifinal at Franciscan, visiting Grove City took control nearly from the outset, striking for two goals in the first 18 minutes. The opening tally came in the seventh minute when junior Luke Kimmich (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) scored off an assist from senior Hunter Hardin (North Ridgeville, Ohio/Freeport). The Wolverine lead doubled to 2-0 when sophomore Aidan Eck (Akron, Ohio/Cuyahoga Valley Christian) scored unassisted at 17:14.

The lead stood at 2-0 at halftime, despite the Barons posting a 9-8 margin in shots and a 3-0 advantage in corners. After only needing to make one save in the first half, Grove City sophomore keeper Teddy Almeter (Monroeville, Pa./Serra Catholic) would be tested more early after halftime, stopping three attempts in the first 25 minutes of the second half to maintain the two-goal Grove City lead.

Franciscan would finally break through in the 73rd minute when a Wolverine foul led to a Baron PK, which junior Ryan Miller (Galena, Ohio/Olentangy Berlin) finished to slice the Grove City lead in half to 2-1.

That was as close as Franciscan would get the rest of the night, as the Wolverines clinched the win and their first trip to the PAC Championship match since 2018 with a pair of goals in the final nine minutes. Senior Ari Campbell (Memphis, Tenn./White Station) scored with 8:05 on the clock for a 3-1 cushion. Then with 5:04 to play, Hardin added his own goal to two assists for the night when he scored for the final 4-1 margin off a double assist from Eck and senior Chris DeLucia (Kent, Ohio/Cuyahoga Valley Christian).

In the win, Almeter finished with five saves, while Franciscan graduate student keeper Jax Mautone (Kingston, N.Y./Coleman Catholic) stopped five shots as well.