The success of the men’s soccer team in 2015 gives Biola plenty of reasons to be excited for this upcoming season.

Team dynamic

Not only did they finish the season 15-5-1, Biola’s new best season record, the Eagles finished on top of the Golden State Athletic Conference standings with an 8-1-1, going undefeated at home. They continued their dominance into the GSAC tournament, where they bested the Hope International University Royals and the Vanguard University Lions to secure their first ever conference championship.

By finishing first in both the conference and the championship, the Eagles earned a spot in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics tournament. After beating Corban University 3-1, Missouri Valley College knocked the Eagles out of the tournament in double overtime to end their stellar season.

The team and its supporters are now left to question what is in store for the Eagles in 2016.

Besides the athleticism found on the team, the Eagles accredit their success in 2015 to the solid bond the whole team shared. Team members are rarely so close to each other that it shows when they are on the field, but the Eagles had that type of bond last year.

“Last year we set a record and won GSAC and went deeper into nationals than we have ever been before,” said True Tamplin, sophomore midfielder. “That was a repercussion of how tightly bonded the team is. There is something very special about the dynamic of our team where everyone meshed together, was not cliquey and sincerely loved each other.”

An inevitable change

The six seniors who led the team through a pre-season trip to Japan and a stellar year leave a large hole for the Eagles to fill next year. After elimination from the NAIA tournament, the men’s soccer team turned to finding players to fill in the three starting positions previously held by the seniors.

“There are six seniors who are leaving and three starting positions are needing to be filled,” Tamplin said. “We thought we were going to have a brand new team because of it, but it is very feasible to fill those positions. It’s the same team, minus a few seniors and as of now we are super tight.”

Despite the inevitable change, the team is confident the bond they had last year will roll into the new season with the core group of returning players. Incidently, finding high-quality and extremely talented players to take the place of the graduating seniors was not difficult. The team already has leads on four or five promising players who love Biola and desire to play soccer for the Eagles.

“The guys take their faith very seriously, which has created an environment on the team of having a servant attitude,”Tamplin said. “It has decreased the gap of upper and lower classmen.”

With key players returning to the team and young talent filling in for the departing seniors, the Eagles hope to not only continue their success in 2016, but grow even closer to each other in the process.