The San Diego Christian College Hawks traveled to Biola on Sept. 26 to take on the Biola Eagles. The Hawks came into the game with a 5-2-1 record and 0-1 in the Golden State Athletic Conference. They headed into the match without captain and senior defender Amanda Otto, who is out for the year with a torn ACL after last week’s game. The Eagles defense did not miss a beat and an offensive explosion in the second half secured their perfect record leaving the game 7-0-2 on the season and 1-0-1 in GSAC play.
FIRST SCORING CHANCE
The first real scoring chance came via the Hawks with about 27 minutes left to play in the first half and was capitalized by a great save from senior goalkeeper Marina Rodriguez, making her second straight start of the season. Biola had their chance to put points on the board when senior forward Brittney Sayre almost gained control of a through ball, but missed by inches after the ball was grabbed by San Diego Christian sophomore goalkeeper Sandra Rivas.
The first half of the game was everything but eventful as neither team had many chances of scoring.
A DIFFERENT NARRATIVE
After a lackluster first half, the second half served as a different narrative for both teams as the game shifted from a stifling defensive battle to an offensive blitzkrieg by the Eagles. The half opened with a quick exchange in possessions, but Biola quickly moved down the field and ended the drought with a goal by junior midfielder McKenna Marmelstein with 42:59 left to play. This goal was the catalyst for the offense in the second half.
After a phenomenal save highlighted by a soaring dive from senior goalkeeper Amanda Johnson, making her first appearance since playing in the first half against Soka University, the Eagles scored with 35 minutes left. Sophomore forward Samantha Verdusco assisted a ball that deflected off junior midfielder Jesse Burns’ leg, awarding Burns her third goal of the season.
With 28:03 left, senior forward Brittney Sayre scored an unassisted goal after an intercepted pass. The goal had plenty of distance and found the top left corner of the net.
COMING INTO THE GAME
With the Hawks down by three goals, junior forward Taylor Venegas put the finishing touches on the blowout by sprinting past defender after defender down the field to score. This marks Venegas’ fifth goal of the season, tying Verdusco with the team lead in goals, with 16 minutes in the game.
The Eagles, coming into the game, looked to contain Hawks’ offensive weapon and junior forward Vivian Oray, who has been an offensive force in the NAIA.
Even though Oray took plenty of shots during the game, freshman defender Madyson Brown moved into Otto’s position and had her best game of the season, preventing Oray and the Hawks’ dynamic from scoring with a series of defensive headers and intercepted passes.
“It’ll definitely be different with Otto out, she is always on my right side of the field. She is a strong player and we already miss her out there, but we have been already practicing with new players to compensate for her loss, now all of us on defense have to give 100 percent,” Brown said.
Even with the loss of Otto, Brown and junior defender Kayla White are a potent and formidable defensive force that looks to to stabilize the defense for the rest of the season.
Biola’s next game will be at home against Westmont College on Sept. 30 at 7:00 p.m. The Warriors are tied for the GSAC lead with a 2-0 record and are 6-2 overall.
