Biola men’s lacrosse came out strong Saturday, Feb. 25 in their first conference and home game, defeating the Cal State University Channel Islands Dolphins 15-11. The win ended a three game losing streak and has hopefully given the team some momentum for the rest of the season.
With a light drizzle and the temperature in the low 50s, the Eagles manned their positions on their own Al Barbour Field for the first time this season. The whistle blew, the players scrambled, and the game commenced.
Game starts strong
But in spite of the weather, sophomore attackman Jeff Clark was ready to play his best and lift his team from the mire. He scored an early goal and successfully gave his team encouragement.
“We were up three to zero,” Clark reminisced after the game, “and it was my second goal, so I was feeling really encouraged, and coming off a few big losses it was awesome to finally feel like we were getting off on a good foot…. I think we really needed this game, especially as our first league game. We also just, we needed it for the momentum because it was getting rough in practices after three loses. It’s awesome to have that win…it was so encouraging.”
Early start leads to solid first half
Feeding off the encouragement, Clark scored a total of seven goals in the first half. Junior attackman Marc Morgan followed up with two goals of his own. By halftime the score was 10-3, Biola. The Dolphins could only wearily march off the field to regroup themselves.
It really began to pour when the second half started. Fans huddled under umbrellas but remained to cheer for the Eagles, facing thoroughly soaked clothes and cold wind. Though the Eagles stayed focused, it was obvious to see that the support raised morale.
Eagles consistent despite rain
However, it was Dolphin Brandon Wasilewski who scored first in the third quarter. The goal helped his other ocean-dwellers to step up their game and begin scoring. When an Eagle would score, a Dolphin would return fire with fire. The match-up began to look more even, as both sides hammered their opponent’s net and scored frequently.
But the Eagles continued to make great plays. Sophomore midfielder Scott Gamelson claimed a goal while getting slammed by Dolphin defenders. Both Morgan and junior midfielder David Sigley scored twice in the second half.
In the fourth quarter Sigley got hold of the ball in front of the Dolphin goal, spun to dodge a defender, faked a shot, and rolled the ball between the goalie for another point on the board. Minutes later Morgan delivered a jump shot over the head of a defender, barely avoiding the block, to give Biola its 14th goal. Finalizing the Eagle score, Sigley scooped up a rebound and fired from 20 feet out, scoring between the legs of the goalie.
Offenses matched, Eagles come out on top
Yet the Eagle offense was matched by that of the Dolphins. CSUCI made a great comeback, losing only by four points. The Biola defense was tired and freshman goalie Jimmy Perdomo-Hazen was frustrated that Dolphins kept penetrating and finding opportunities. “Well, I’m happy that we got the win,” Sigley commented after the game, “but I’m a little bittersweet just the way it ended. We started out the game really strong, and I was pleased with that because the last few games we started out really weak.”
With a “W” on their record and improvement on the horizon, the Eagles will journey down south to face the University of California, San Diego Tritons Saturday, March 5 at 1:00 PM.
