Eagles tie second straight game
The Biola men’s soccer team tied their second straight game as they finished up their preseason against Dixie State College of Utah on Tuesday, Sept. 27.
After playing Menlo College to a 1-1 draw in their previous game, Saturday, Sept. 17, the Eagles looked to bounce back against the Red Storm, but things did not go according to plan as Biola played Dixie State to a 2-2 draw.
Biola starts off stroong, takes early lead
The game was going in Biola’s favor early. A Red Storm misplay resulted in them knocking the ball into their own net giving the Eagles a 1-0 lead.
The score stayed the same through the rest of the first half with Biola and Dixie State each taking five shots.
The second half began with the Red Storm switching out keepers, but it did not take the Eagles long to get to the new goalie. Sophomore forward Daniel Chew found the back of the net for the Eagles off of a rebound from a header via senior defender Cody Shelton. This 65th minute goal into the back of the net looked to be enough for Biola who took the 2-0 lead until 15 minutes left in regulation.
A goalie change gives Dixie momentum
Things slipped away from the Eagles as the Red Storm got a goal from 18 yards out to make it a 2-1 game in the 75th minute. Despite having good control of the game until this point Dixie State was able to break through.
Less than 10 minutes later the Red Storm equalized the match off of a corner kick to make it a 2-2 tie in the 84th minute.
“We did very well to maintain control of the game until the final 20 minutes. They changed their system and started playing long balls into our box,” head coach Brian Kuderman said. “As a result, they capitalized on two set pieces including a mistake in our back third.”
Overtime yields no more scoring for Biola
In overtime the Eagles took the first strike with senior forward Marco Ruvalcaba drilling a shot towards the goal that was stopped with a great save by freshman Red Storm keeper Billy Sagel.
Biola had two more close chances in the second overtime that were stuffed by Sagel.
Eagles’ senior keeper Aaron Fenlason recorded one save in the evening even though the Red Storm had 14 shots. Sagel made four saves in just the second half and overtime. Sophomore Tyler Walters had one save while playing only the first half. The Eagles took 18 shots in the game.
“It was extremely disappointing for all of us since we drove about seven hours to play that game and we were also leading the game the entire time. Giving up the result in the last 15 minutes frustrated everyone,” said freshman defender Joao Toscan, who filled in for the injured junior Ben Ortega. “We had the game in our hands the whole time, we had more clear chances than they did, but they put away the chances that they had.”
The Eagles begin their Golden State Athletic Conference play Saturday, Oct. 1 at Concordia University in Irvine.
