The No. 26 Eagles followed up their crucial victory against the No. 6 Vanguard University Lions with another important match against the Master’s College Mustangs. In the end the Mustangs handed the Eagles their first conference matchup loss and demoted the Eagles conference record to 7-1-1.
ONE CHANCE TO CLINCH
Despite their loss, the Eagles have one more chance to clinch the Golden State Athletic Conference division championship. Their loss to the Mustangs did not destroy their determination to win.
Thanks to a goal from senior midfielder Joey O’Keefe, the Eagles took the lead from the Mustangs early in the first half. However, the team was unable to recover when the game was forced into overtime and the Mustangs won in the last overtime period.
“We played hard, but it definitely wasn't one of our best games this season,” said Stephen Tanquary, senior forward. “We misplaced a lot of passes and made some costly mistakes. Overall I was proud of the heart the guys put into the game, it was just unfortunate to come out on the wrong side of a disappointing double OT loss.”
NOT DISCOURAGED
Despite the first loss of their conference matchups, the Eagles were not discouraged. The team knew going into their match against the Mustangs that if they lost, they would still have one more chance to win the title with a win against Arizona Christian University on Oct. 31. Their record has given them a cushion to lose a game during the year without ending their hopes of a championship title.
“There's been a ton of encouraging talks that each player has had with each other,” O’Keefe said. “We do not have a culture on our team that brings a brother down when they have a bad performance. We genuinely want the best for each other and the best for the whole team.”
A STRONG TEAM BOND
Their strong team bond has put the team in a great position to be GSAC champions. Junior forward Leonardo Contreras is second for both conference shot attempts with 66, and conference shots per game with 14. He is also tied for fourth along with fellow Eagle O’Keefe for number of goals in their GSAC division. Both players have made eight goals since the conference matchups started.
Senior goalkeeper J.T. Addington is third for number of shutouts earned during the conference matchups. Out of the nine conference matchups the Eagles have played in, five are shutouts led by Addington and Biola’s defense.
The only team standing between the Eagles and the 2015 GSAC championship title is the Arizona Christian University Firestorm. With a 1-8 conference record, ACU sits dead last in the division. Their only victory was against Hope International in September when the Firestorm won 4-1. The Eagles will meet the Firestorm for the first time this season on Oct. 31 at 2:30 p.m. with hopes of taking the GSAC championship title.
