The men’s soccer team out-muscled, out-ran and out-shot Trinity International University on Friday to come out with a 5-0 win, preserving their so far undefeated season.
It didn’t take long for Biola to find the net. The first break came in the 38th minute when Bako broke free down the left side and swung a centering pass into Zach Bautista, who headed it into the goal for a 1-0 lead.
“I did what I was supposed to do and Zach was on the other end,” Bako said after the game.
The crowd had barely been seated when forward Marco Ruvalcaba sprinted up the middle and fired a shot that was saved by the diving Trinity goalie. They went back and forth until the 20th minute when Jake Ravenscraft hit the sophomore Bautista for his second goal of the night, giving the Eagles a 2-0 lead. There it remained until the 43rd minute, when Ruvacalba received a pass in the left corner of the goal box and buried it with a laser beam into the right side of the net. Biola went into halftime leading 3-0.
The second half was punctuated by the Eagles’ shooting and increased physicality. 4
“We had better physical maturity in the second half. Fouls and cards don’t do us any good in the lead,” said Coach Bryan Kuderman, when asked about the hard play on both sides.
Biola rallied on the scoreboard when senior Derek Friehe scored in the 79th minute. Derek’s brother, Phillip Friehe, tacked on one more goal in the 89th minute, and the Eagles coasted to a 5-0 win. Goaltender Aaron Fenlason was brilliant, saving two shots and completing his third consecutive shutout. He hasn’t been scored on yet this season.
After the game, both coaches cited the midfield play of sophomores Bautista and Gomez as a keys to Biola’s success. Trinity coach Patrick Gilliam was impressed.
“Number 3 (Bautista) and 5 (Gomez) were good,” he said. “They were able to create the attack and forced us to make costly mistakes.”
“It was the first time we used Gomez and Bautista together and they were great,” Coach Kuderman said.
During the Saturday night game, the Eagles had the chance to play against Biola alums in the men’s soccer Alumni Game. Fifteen former Eagles showed up, featuring six former all-conference players. Coach Kuderman played his reserves for all but 20 minutes of the game.
Alumni Colin Kilpatrick scored on a penalty kick in the 77th minute to give the elder Eagles a 1-0 lead. With 8:47 left, Coach Kuderman again put his starters in and minutes later, Friday’s hero Zach Bautista found the net off a ricochet to tie the game. Tied 1-1, it went to a shootout where the Alumni won it 5-4 on the diving save of a shot by Jared Fenlason.
“It was good to get our reserves some experience, and to learn from these players who have been playing for a long time.” Biola captain Kennedy Chongo said after the game.
Eagles versus the Whitter College Poets
Monday night, the men were at it again, facing the Poets of Whittier College. Whittier didn’t get their first shot on goal until the 41st minute. Eagles goaltender Aaron Fenlason had his record fourth consecutive shutout to start the season, and Biola wrote off the Poets 4-0.
The game was close early on. Ruvalcaba headed in a pass from Gomez in the 25th minute to make it 1-0, and that was the score at halftime.
“We came out slow,” defenseman Bako said after the game. “But coach got into us at halftime, and you saw what happened.”
What happened was 33 seconds into the second half, Kennedy Chongo cut through the middle and scored on a beautiful assist from freshman Colby Roberts.
“I called for the switch, saw Kennedy with his hand up, centered, and he tucked it away,” Roberts said.
“Biola was organized and confident,” Whittier’s head coach Paul Walmsley said after the game. “They took advantage of our mistakes.”
Junior defenseman Jared Fenlason scored on a corner kick from sophomore Tony Montalvo, and senior Humberto Toscan added a goal in the 82nd minute to seal the deal.
When asked how he has started the season with 360 scoreless minutes, goalie Aaron Fenlason said, “I couldn’t do it without the defense. Hard work pays off.”
Biola will play Soka on the 18th of September before beginning GSAC play at home against San Diego Christian on September 26 at 4:30 pm.
