Coming into Saturday night’s Golden State Athletic Conference matchup against the Menlo College Oaks, the Biola Eagles had not surrendered a single goal in six matches. Unfortunately, the streak ended with 1:57 remaining in the first half.

For the most part, the first half did not feature any offense for either side despite Eagles’ junior defender and midfielder Yuri Cruz almost scoring twice. Throughout the first half it seemed the Eagles established themselves as the superior team with composed ball control. In contrast, the Oaks kicked the ball around aimlessly, which eventually turned into a goal from inside the penalty box.

Biola came out of halftime with a jolt of energy and forced a rapid-fire offense on the Oaks defense, so much that in the 39th minute senior captain forward Leonardo Contreras broke free. The open field must have gotten to Contreras’ head as he missed a wide open goal. The missed opportunity seemingly deflated the Eagles as Menlo spent most of the second half on the offensive. Unfortunately, the Eagles could not overcome their first goal allowed in six games at the end of the first half and eventually lost Saturday night 1-0.

The Eagles were in a heated and physical battle for the whole game. The Oaks’ defense outshone the Eagles vaunted backline and did not allow the Eagles many scoring opportunities aside from Contreras’ missed shot. The height advantage the Oaks’ starting lineup had over the home team proved an issue for Biola as it seemed that every 50/50 ball in the air was won by the Oaks.

With the loss, Biola falls to 6-2 on the season and suffer their first home loss.The Eagles’ next face off against another GSAC competitor in The Master University Mustangs on Wednesday Sept. 28 at 7 p.m at Al Barbour field.