Senior Austin Foxworthy works on offense. The Eagles fell behind early and lost 15-6 to Concordia on Saturday, Feb. 25. | Tyler Otte/THE CHIMES

The Biola University men’s lacrosse team lost to Concordia University 15-6, in a non-Southwestern Lacrosse Conference game on Saturday, Feb. 25, at Biola’s Al Barbour Field.

Concordia, the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association’s No. 9 team, looked sharp early as they rattled off four straight tallies to take a 4-0 lead within the first five minutes of the game.

Concordia powers through first period

Flying out of the gates, Concordia netted seven goals in the opening 15 minutes, granting them a 7-2 lead at the end of the frame. Biola scored its first goal with seven minutes left in the first period, getting them on the scoreboard.

While Biola was unable to find the back of the net twice, the second period was not much different than the first. Senior Jon McMahan opened the second period, scoring a goal for Biola with 11:28 left, but seconds later Concordia responded with a goal of their own. As Biola’s offense fought to get goals in, their defense struggled to keep them out.

“Defense wasn’t communicating,” sophomore Travis Durden said. “It just wasn’t getting back and getting settled how they were supposed to.”

Eagles rally in second half

Marching back onto the field after halftime, the next 15 minutes belonged to Biola; they were determined to play a better second half. Their defense stepped up and shut down the visitors’ offense. Senior David Sigley and junior Jeff Clark both added two goals in the fight to catch up to Concordia. Concordia responded once more with a goal with 26 seconds left in the third period.

Concordia shattered any chances Biola had of winning in the last frame. They were able to put in the last three goals of the game and kept Biola from scoring any more.

Senior Adam Kingston led the Eagles in points and assists as he tallied three goals and two assists; junior Scott Gamelson added another point and assist. However, this was no match for Concordia’s Josh Fagan who tallied six goals and Destin Seguin who contributed five assists. Concordia’s goalie, Gian-Marco Ciallella, had a massive contribution as he managed 12 saves throughout the game.

“We knew who their key guys were coming in and who had the most points and the most goals,” Durden said. “We just had to play the game but our defense just wasn’t there.”

Team seeks improvement following loss

Although Biola suffered a discouraging loss, the team was able to see where improvements needed to be made in order to face their opponents throughout the season, not only on defense but on the offensive side as well.

“Yeah, we all wanted it, we wanted this win bad,” Durden said, shaking his head. “But we’ll put this game behind us and we just have to get our minds right and go out there every day ready to play.”

The Eagles return to action Sunday, March 4 at 1:30 p.m., in a Southwestern Lacrosse Conference game against Occidental College in Los Angeles. They have an overall record of 1-2 and a conference record of 1-0. Their busy schedule begins with games every weekend in March.