After a nail-biting overtime, the final score shines over the celebratory Biola men as Wesleyan publicly expresses their despair. | Kalli Thommen/THE CHIMES
In a riveting game last Friday night, Biola defeated Oklahoma Wesleyan University 3-2 in overtime, continuing their 4-0 winning streak this season.
This game was an important one for Biola. OKWU was the first nationally ranked team they would play this season, and OKWU proved to be a challenge early in the game. Three minutes in, the no. 14 ranked team put in the first goal of the game by forward Lucas Cordeiro. An early setback for BU gave Wesleyan an advantage for the first half hour of the game. After four attempts at a goal, Biola tied up the score with an impressive 35 yard shot to the top right corner by sophomore midfielder John Hanscom, marking his first goal of the season.
A scary moment occurred toward the end of the first period, when BU junior defender Joao Toscan went down with an injury to his right knee and was later assisted off the field. His team automatically gathered to pray for him as he received medical attention, and he was out for the remainder of the game.
“Joao is one of our best defenders and a leader on our team,” sophomore forward Stephen Tanquary said. “To lose him is huge for us, but it was cool to see how the team fought through that, even though we were pretty emotional. We played for him.”
Twenty-two minutes into the second half, Wesleyan pulled ahead with a second goal from Cordeiro off a throw-in by OKWU defender Aaron Terrill. After a few attempted goals that brought fans to the edge of their seats, a shot by BU sophomore midfielder Joey O’Keefe deflected off the post, only to have Tanquary put the ball in the top left corner, tying the score 2-2.
The game went into a nail-biting over time where the golden goal was made by a header from Tanquary off a free kick by BU senior defender Scott Hayes, concluding the game with a final score of 3-2.
“It’s awesome to be able to contribute to the team like that,” Tanquary said. “I got assists from Scott and assists from Joey and I was just lucky to be on the end of the goals. We’re looking forward to starting GSAC and having a successful season.”
