Biola’s men’s soccer team beat rival Azusa Pacific University in a nail-biter on Saturday afternoon at home. Fans filled the stands at Al Barbour field and watched Biola roll to its ninth win of the season. Biola is now 9-1 overall and 4-0 in GSAC play while Azusa falls to 11-1 and 4-1 in GSAC.
Following the victory, families and friends of the players stormed the field for a group picture with the soccer team as the Eagles celebrated their victory during Biola’s annual parents’ weekend.
Leading up to the game, Azusa was 13-1-1 against Biola in their last fifteen matches and had won seven straight.
“In past years, Azusa has always been able to outplay us. This year, we have the talent and the capability to beat them,” said senior forward Humberto Tuscan, acknowledging the difference between this year and previous years.
The team was more than capable last Saturday as a stalwart defense held Azusa scoreless for the entire 90 minutes. Azusa averaged 3.63 goals per game coming into Saturday’s contest.
It appeared that the Eagles would go into the first half knotted at zero, but in the 43rd minute, Marco Ruvalcaba fired a rocket from the left side at twenty two yards out. The ball bounced off Cougars keeper Tyler Stromberg’s hands and into the goal. Ruvalcaba has four of the last five goals scored by the Eagles and he leads the team with nine goals on the year.
After the game, Ruvalcaba had praises for the entire team, but especially the defense.
“Our defense won the game for us; it’s good to see the hard work in practice pay off,” Ruvalcaba said.
Despite being out shot 8-2 in the first half, the late first half goal gave the Eagles momentum they needed as they controlled the ball for most of the second half. The Eagles goalkeeper, Aaron Fenlason, was as solid as he has been all season. After the Eagles’ first loss of the season back on October 3rd, he now has back-to-back shut out games.
Eagles’ Kennedy Chongo had two opportunities to add insurance late in the game. His first shot in the 68th minute hit the top crossbar and bounced straight down. Then, in the 83rd minute, Chongo beat two defenders and the keeper, but his shot rolled just wide left.
Fenlason and the Biola defense held off ensuing attacks from the Cougars’ valiant offense. In the 86th minute, sophomore defender Cody Shelton made a sliding stop on a shot just inside the 18. Even though the Cougars had seven corner kicks to Biola’s zero, the Biola defense was able to turn away opportunity after opportunity.
“The reason why we won is great defense. This game really highlights what we’ve been working on all year,” Fenalson said after the game.
“We stuck to the game plan and I’m proud of the team,” head coach Brian Kunderman said. “They’ve worked hard. This is an epic team.”
