Following their impressive 3-0 victory over Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University on Monday, the Biola Eagles women’s soccer team improved to a record-setting 6-0. Historically, the Eagles have generally maintained solid seasons, but they have never started a season as well as they have this year.
“We just give it all in practice and we work hard as a team, and it shows on the field because we’ve been working together and giving it our all,” junior forward Brittney Sayre said. “We have a lot of heart, so it’s been getting us far.”
Sayre was the first of three Eagles to score in the match, netting a ball within the first ten minutes of play, marking her third goal on the season. Amanda Lillicrop and Margaret Guadarrama joined in the effort as well, scoring their fourth and second goals, respectively.
The match was not all smooth sailing, however. The Eagles faced Kalyn Goodenough, Embry-Riddle’s all-time leading scorer. However, the Eagle’s defense proved rock-solid, limiting Goodenough to just two shots, only one of which was on goal.
RIDING THE MOMENTUM
The Eagles hope to continue riding the momentum as conference play gets closer and closer. They have one more match on Saturday at CSU San Marcos before conference play begins next Tuesday against Arizona Christian University. The team understands the difficulty of conference and are preparing themselves mentally and physically for the challenge.
“I think, when we get into conference, our attack has to be a little sharper,” sophomore forward Taylor Venegas said. “We’ve managed to get a lot of goals on the teams we've played so far, but I think conference is going to be a lot harder, and I think we can't make as many mistakes as we are making now in attack.”
Beyond conference play, the Eagles have aspirations for an even higher goal. They have gotten a taste of what their team can do when they all work together as a unit, and now they hope that great things will come from it. They remember all too well the disappointment of last season, and never want to feel the same way again.
“I really hope we can get to nationals; that would be really cool, but we’ll see,” said Venegas.
Both Venegas and Sayre spoke very highly about the team camaraderie, commenting on the feelings of unity and sisterhood that bridged the gaps of age and grade. They also praised the coaches for doing an exceptional job, and felt extremely positive and excited to be a part of this record-breaking squad.
