Another season has come and gone for men’s soccer after the Eagles failed to reach the Golden State Athletic Conference finals. Biola suffered its first loss to San Diego Christian College in several years Nov. 3 afternoon and will sit on the sidelines during the NAIA national tournament.

In what was very much a roller coaster season, the Eagles showed early promise with blowout victories in September, defeating La Sierra University 8-1 and Pacific Union College 15-0. After starting GSAC play with a victory at The Master’s College, the Eagles dropped their next three away games — a trend that would prove to be the Achilles’ heel of the team. Despite numerous losses on the road, the squad proved to be red-hot at home, posting a 6-1 record at Al Barbour field. This included the thrilling rematch win over ranked Concordia and second place finisher.

Biola’s regular season win against SDCC, albeit at home, was no walk in the park. The Eagles trailed 1-0 until junior midfielder Carlos Ballesteros found the equalizer in the 87th minute. Then freshman mid John Hanscom scored the game winner with just a minute remaining to seal the win for Biola. The early season game was an important win for the Eagles, but letting SDCC get on the board first and early was a problem that the men were going to have to solve.

Going into El Cajon this past weekend, the Eagles knew that road games tended to work against them. The Eagles came in knowing the odds, having won only two GSAC away games against Arizona Christian University and Westmont College. These two teams finished last and next to last, respectively, and failed to reach the postseason,

“Having the home-field advantage is huge. [San Diego] play on a natural grass field whereas we play on turf,” head coach Bryan Kuderman said. “Their natural grass was in fairly poor condition and definitely worked against us.”

The first half saw opportunities for both sides, but neither was able to capitalize. Biola freshman goalkeeper Joshua Crichton kept the Eagles in the game with six saves. The Eagles’ real opportunity came in the 30th minute, when freshman midfielder Joey O’Keefe just narrowly missed the side net and hit the post. O’Keefe rebounded and collected, but would eventually result in a miss for the away squad.

In the second half, forward Emmanuel Onywera got things going for the Hawks in the 73rd minute when he received a well-placed through ball and netted it past Crichton. The senior, who scored the only goal in SDCC’s earlier loss against the Eagles, found the net again minutes later on a similar ball slotted behind the defense. Just when it seemed the Hawks were ready to walk away with this one, Biola responded. Sophomore midfielder Sava Pantic received a ball from defender Kevin Kiser and placed it over San Diego goalkeeper Alex Cozzi’s head for Biola’s first score of the afternoon.

The Eagles had several opportunities to pull even in the final moments of the game, but Cozzi came up with several solid saves to keep the Hawks ahead. The final whistle blew and it was San Diego Christian on top and advancing to the GSAC finals to take on season frontrunner Concordia University Irvine.

The Hawks have been a big surprise this year. Aside from their solid second-place finish, they have made huge strides over the past year to separate themselves from a dreaded history. SDCC is playing in its first-ever GSAC tourney, having finished dead last in the conference for the past seven seasons, with an abysmal conference record of 2-59. The Hawks went six straight seasons without a conference win, and now appear to be on the up as they will face Concordia Saturday in a GSAC finale showdown for a NAIA tournament berth.

As for the Eagles, the long road ends here.

“Certainly our win over the No. 4 nationally ranked team Concordia University was the highlight of our season,” coach Kuderman said. “In that game, the boys proved that they can play against anyone in the country. It was our lack of consistency that brought us out of the playoffs as early as we have ended.”

Kuderman finishes his 11th year coaching the men tied with his second best GSAC finish in those years. The Eagles took third in 2009 as well with a 7-2-1 GSAC record, which resulted in the men reaching the NAIA quarterfinals. Previously, Kuderman had led the team to a first-place GSAC finish back in 2002, his first year taking over as head coach.

Looking forward, the 11-7-1 Eagles have a strong underclassman core that can begin to step up and provide solid strength for an obviously talented squad.

“We have a very good freshman class this year … I hope to focus intensely on recruiting another group of freshmen for the fall of 2013,” Kuderman said when asked about the future of his team. “In addition, I’d like to see my guys playing a lot of soccer in their post and offseason to continue building their skills.”

The Eagles will take a few hard hits, losing seniors Tony Montalvo, Ben Ortega, and Julio Cuevas. The three combined for six goals and ten assists this season.