STEUBENVILLE - After 76 minutes of one-goal soccer, a slew of goals in a three-minute span decided the game and the Franciscan men's soccer team came out on top with a 3-2 win over Geneva, Tuesday afternoon. 

Junior Kevin Herrmann's first career goal in the 41st minute seemed to be the difference maker in a tightly contested battle between the two teams before Gevena found an opening at 76:59 and tied the game at 1-1. That goal from Kevin Pasho opened the proverbial floodgates as three more goals were scored in the next three minutes. 

With the game tied, the Barons pressed hard to keep possession of the ball and create opportunities to retake the lead. After stealing the ball back just at midfield, senior captain Mark Fioramonti was able to send the ball downfield to Ian Baldau who made his run to the middle of the field in front of the box. After making a quick move around a defender, Baldau tucked a fantastic shot inside the right post as the Geneva goalie dove under it to give Franciscan a 2-1 lead at 78:08.

Just over a minute later, the Barons were back on the attack as freshman Mikey Irvin fed the ball back to classmate Nick Miller and made his run down the field. Miller lifted the ball out in front of Irvin's run and the freshman connected a shot into the ride side of the net to give Franciscan a 3-1 lead.

Pasho got the Golden Tornadoes back to within one on the very next Geneva possession as he received a pass from Liam O'Halloran and battled through the defense for his second goal of the game. 

Franciscan led the Golden Tornadoes 3-2 with 10:20 to play in regulation.

The Baron defense went into lockdown mode and did not allow the Golden Tornadoes to get a shot off in the final 10 minutes, despite four corner kicks for Geneva. The Barons were able to keep the ball away from sophomore keeper Brian Gaughan.

Gaughan had an exceptionally strong game in net for the Barons as he made a career-best seven saves in the full 90 minutes and was named Man of the Match by the coaching staff following the game. Gaughan not only made key saves but was able to get ahead of shots and take away scoring chances. 

Herrmann's first goal of the game in the 41st minute was unconventional but gave the Barons the cushion they needed to play strong on defense. After Geneva got the ball back cleanly to its goal, Herrmann kept the pressure on and was able to block Luke Nolan's goal kick with his shoulder past Nolan and into the back of the net for the 1-0 Baron lead just four minutes before halftime. 

"I am super proud of the grinding effort today," remarked head coach Christian Bobak. "Especially from our defense. We have a lot to improve on but I am very happy with the team win today."

The Barons get a few days rest before facing Alfred State in their first game of the Fuzzy Williams Tournament, hosted by Bethany. Alfred State and the Franciscan square off at 2:30 pm on Saturday, September 8.