The Biola men’s soccer team brought home a pair of wins during a stretch of games that included a 1-0 win against Hope International University on Wednesday, Oct. 5, a 3-0 win at San Diego Christian College on Saturday and a 3-1 loss to Fresno Pacific University on Tuesday.

Biola defeats Hope International

Biola’s strong start came in the form of a 1-0 shutout at home against Hope International. The first half went quietly for both teams until the 39th minute when freshman defender Collins Egbe picked up a free ball from fellow freshman and forward Alex Kincade and put it into the back right corner of the net.

This goal was plenty for Eagle’s senior keeper Aaron Fenlason and the Biola defensive unit. Fenlason recorded three saves on the night off of nine Royal shots.

With a loss and two ties in their previous three games, the victory snapped a three match win-less streak for the Eagles, the longest of the 2011 season.

In the second half Biola had two solid chances to extend their lead in the form of senior forward Marco Ruvalcaba. Ruvalcaba’s first shot slammed off the right post. Less than three minutes later Ruvalcaba was awarded a penalty kick following a Royal foul inside the penalty box. Hope keeper Jhovany Hernandez, who stopped Ruvalcaba’s shot and kept it a one-goal match, thwarted this second chance for the Eagles.

The Royals had a handful of late chances against the Eagle defense with the best one coming in the 83rd minute. Royal Matthew Howard fired a shot toward the goal that was deflected by Fenlason. With the ball still trickling toward the net, sophomore midfielder Dylan Wingrove slid in and cleared the ball away, saving the slim Biola lead.

As has become a routine, the Eagles outshot their opponent 19-9 on the evening.

Eagles win fifth shutout of season

Biola followed up this victory with another win at San Diego Christian on Saturday, Oct. 8.

Junior midfielder Zach Bautista did not hesitate to get the scoring going when he headed in a throw in from senior defender Cody Shelton.

Sophomore forward Daniel Chew followed up this early lead with a goal of his own in the 21st minute. Chew slid in and knocked the ball past the keeper off of a pass from fellow sophomore forward Carlos Ballesteros.

The defense, along with Fenlason, held their own on the night recording their fifth shutout of the season. Fenlason tallied four saves off of eight Hawk shots.

Eagles fall to Sunbirds

The Eagles wrapped up the three game set by falling 3-1 on Tuesday, Oct. 11 to Fresno Pacific as the Sunbirds tallied two goals in the final 15 minutes to defeat the Eagles.

Fresno Pacific, who improved to 8-3-0 with the win, got the scoring started early in the 17th minute on a cross in front of the goal that was knocked in by Rodrigo Vianna.

The Eagles struck back in the 37th minute when Ruvalcaba fired a shot through traffic and past the outstretched arms of Sunbird keeper Steven Waite. As soon as Ruvalcaba blasted the ball toward the net the fans erupted, clearly seeing the path this ball had toward the back of the goal.

That was all the scoring this match would see until Fresno Pacific struck again in the 77th minute with Vianna again putting home a shot past Fenlason.

The Sunbirds didn’t stop there though, quickly tallying a third goal just over two minutes later with an unassisted score from Fabricio Nazare.

“We need to improve the will of the team and not giving up and pushing through adversity,” Fenlason said on the team’s difficult defeat.

The Eagles were uncharacteristically outshot 14-9 by the Sunbirds.

“They were a very skilled and experienced and the first team that has forced us to counter attack,” head coach Bryan Kuderman said, also mentioning the caliber of the six Brazilian-born players on the Fresno roster.

Many of the struggles can be traced back to injuries plaguing the Eagles, recently to freshman defender Joao Toscan and junior defender Ben Ortega.

“They (the injuries) affect us a lot. They keep us from putting the right guys where they should be. The reserves have stepped in as well as they can, but you can’t replace a starter. It also drains our bench,” Chew said on the effects of the injuries.

The Eagles find themselves at 7-3-2 on the year including a 2-2 Golden State Athletic Conference record. They will try to bounce back at home against rival Azusa Pacific University on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 1 p.m.