Men’s soccer had not won a game since Oct. 4 despite outshooting most of its opponents. On Oct. 18, they matched up against the Vanguard University Lions, who rank fifth in the Golden State Athletic Conference and had previously lost 1-3 to The Master’s College.

When the Eagles and Lions met last season in the two teams’ most recent matchup, the Eagles won 1-0.

The Eagles controlled the game, putting up more shots than the Lions throughout the entire match. In the first half Biola had eight shots compared to the Lions’ three, the first occurring halfway through the first 45 minutes. However, neither team was able to get the ball past a keeper.

“We’ve played progressively better every game for the season,” said junior goalkeeper J.T. Addington. “Vanguard was a good game and we played well, but we didn’t get the result.”

This was the Eagles’ second tie in a row, bringing their GSAC conference record to 2-3-2 and 5-5-3 overall.

Coming off the tie, the Eagles looked to improve their record on senior night against the San Diego Christian College Hawks in order to gain a better seed for playoffs.

“It’s our chance to honor them and to pay our respects to them because of their role that they’ve played in our lives, not only on the team, but as a family,” Addington said. “During senior night we have that extra encouragement to go out there and win for them.”

The Eagles were successful with this goal, defeating the Hawks 2-1 in overtime.

Although the Eagles controlled possession at the start of the match, the team’s first shot did not come until ten minutes into the game when senior midfielder Stephen Campos’ shot was blocked.

Eight minutes later, junior forward Stephen Tanquary found the back of the net when he struck the ball off a cross by junior midfielder Joey O’Keefe.

The Eagles put up three more shots in the first half, but were unsuccessful at scoring on these opportunities.

The Hawks scored their first goal of the game just under five minutes into the second half. Although the Eagles outshot the Hawks 10-6 in the second period, the home team could not score a second time.

The scoreboard read 1-1 at the end of regulation.

In overtime, the Eagles tallied three shots and did not allow the Hawks a single scoring opportunity.

With just over a minute remaining in the first period of extra time, Campos volleyed a shot off Tanquary’s cross, scoring the game-winning goal and his second goal of the season.

“It was a good feeling,” Campos said. “Our season hasn’t gone the way we wanted it to, but it was nice to get a motivating win.”

In the future, the Eagles look to capitalize on scoring opportunities while remaining strong defensively.

“Keeping a solid defense is important to us, as well as working from the back up to the forwards where we can get good chances and finish our goals,” Addington said.

The Eagles face off against the Westmont College Warriors for the second time this season on Saturday, Oct. 25. When the teams first met on Oct. 1, the Eagles lost 2-1.