NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. - The Westminster College football team ended its season in dramatic fashion with a 31-28 win at home over its archrival Geneva on Saturday at Harold Burry Stadium. The game included eight lead changes, including the Titans scoring with 11 seconds left.
Westminster finishes the season with a record of 4-6, only its seventh losing season since 1951, but the Titans' win over Geneva (7-3) was just their second against a team that finished its season with a winning record since 2003. The Titans are also now 9-2 in their last 11 final home games of the season.
The game-winning touchdown occurred when sophomore quarterback Shawn Lehocky (Conway, Pa./Freedom) scored on a sneak play on first-down-and-goal from the Geneva 1-yard line with 11 seconds remaining. He finished the game with 59 rushing yards on 13 attempts. Prior to that seven-play, 59-yard drive, both teams scored on their previous two possessions as the Titans outscored the Golden Tornadoes 17-12 in the fourth quarter.
Lehocky led the Titans with 101 passing yards, completing 7 of 13 passes including one touchdown, a 9-yarder to junior Nick Sorice (New Alexandria, Pa./Greater Latrobe) with 4:49 left in the game to give Westminster a 23-22 lead. That score was Sorice's first career touchdown. Sorice finished the game with two grabs for 14 yards.
Geneva then answered by going 43 yards on seven plays, capped off by quarterback David Girardi completing a 7-yard touchdown pass to Sam Thurston with 1:54 remaining.
Girardi led Geneva with 242 yards on 17-27 passing with two touchdowns and one interception. Thurston caught seven passes for 99 yards and two scores.
After neither team scored in the first quarter, Westminster came back from a 7-0 deficit to take a 14-7 lead thanks to senior Nick McKolosky (Johnstown, Pa./Westmont Hilltop) scoring on an 18-yard touchdown run and senior Chad Rosatelli (Clinton, Pa./Hopewell) catching a 6-yard score from senior quarterback Kevin Franz (Finleyville, Pa./Thomas Jefferson).
McKolosky rushed for 88 yards on 21 carries and one touchdown. He finishes his career with 2,891 rushing yards, fifth all-time at Westminster, while his career 30 total touchdowns ranks sixth at Westminster.
Rosatelli led Westminster with seven catches for 103 yards and a score. He finishes his career fourth on Westminster's career receptions list with 134 catches.
Franz finished the game 9-19 passing for 66 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The holder of numerous Westminster passing records, Franz finishes his career with a school-record 7,483 career passing yards, 1,657 more yards than the school's second all-time leading passer.
Rosatelli's touchdown that put the Titans up 14-7 capped off an 18-play, 98-yard march that lasted 8:34, the longest drive at Westminster in recent memory. However, Geneva answered quickly before the end of the first half when Nick DiPietro connected on a 36-yard field goal.
The other scoring in the second half was Thurston giving the GTs a 16-14 lead in the third quarter with a 19-yard touchdown catch from Girardi, sophomore kicker Trevor Young (Ellwood City, Pa./Riverside) giving Westminster a 17-16 lead early in the fourth quarter with a 21-yard field goal, and Gerard Muschette scoring from 2 yards out to give Geneva a 22-17 lead with 8:20 left in the game. Muschette led all rushers with 120 yards on 23 totes.
Geneva outgained Westminster, 446-347, including a 204-180 rushing advantage and a 242-167 passing advantage.
The Golden Tornadoes committed 12 penalties, including four (three pass interference infractions) on Westminster's final scoring drive.
Defensively, senior cornerback Mario Camerota (Cheswick, Pa./Springdale) led the Titans with a career-high 12 tackles to go with an interception, his fourth of the season and the seventh of his career.
About Westminster College...
Founded in 1852 and related to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Westminster College is a top tier liberal arts college and a national leader in graduation rate performance, according to U.S. News Guide to America's Best Colleges. Westminster ranked third among liberal arts colleges in social mobility, according to the Washington Monthly College Guide, and is one of the most affordable national liberal arts colleges in Pennsylvania. Westminster is also honored as one of "The Best 371 Colleges" and "Best in the Northeast" by The Princeton Review, and is named to the President's Honor Roll for excellence in service learning.
Nearly 1,600 undergraduate and graduate students benefit from individualized attention from dedicated faculty while choosing from 41 majors and nearly 100 organizations on the New Wilmington, Pa., campus. Visit www.westminster.edu/advantage to view "Advantage: Westminster" A Strategic Plan 2010-2020.
