Biola’s men’s soccer team officially started their season on Aug. 29, as they matched up against the No. 21 Marymount College Mariners. The Eagles played in three matches prior but none counted toward the season record. Unfortunately, the Eagles start off the season with a mark in the loss column, as Marymount earned the 1-0 victory over Biola.

The first half had an exciting start, as the only goal of the match came in the ninth minute. Marymount scored off a corner kick, when Ronaldo Teixeira snuck the ball by Biola’s junior goalkeeper, Igor Puglia. As it turned out, Puglia would not be tested again, as the Mariners took three more shots throughout the rest of the game, none of which were on goal.

The remainder of the first half passed without a shot on goal from either team, although Biola did have three shots that went wide. One came from sophomore defender Kousei Mattox, the second from senior forward Leonard Contreras and the third courtesy of junior midfielder Yuri Cruz. In addition, Biola earned two corner kicks, and the Mariners received two of their five total yellow cards.

The second half featured a much more impressive Biola offense, as they took an additional six shots, four of which were on goal. One of the on-target shots came in the 65th minute, as senior midfielder Devin Leon’s attempt was saved by the Mariners’ keeper. The remaining three shots on goal came within the final 11 minutes, but Marymount’s keeper stayed strong under pressure. Junior midfielder Jarrett Pugh, Contreras and Mattox each had attempts, with the final shot from Mattox coming with only 1:19 remaining on the clock.

The Eagles start off the season 0-1 and have a chance to improve that record, as they will face the University of Great Falls on Al Barbour Field on Sept. 2 at 4:30 p.m. This will be the first official home game of the season on the new turf from the renovations this summer.