After a span of four home victories last month, women’s soccer found themselves on the flipside with five losses this month. However, the Eagles defeat on Saturday‘s away game was forgotten as they fought back this week at home to grab their second GSAC win keeping hopes alive for a playoff run.
The Eagles came out shooting during this week’s game against the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds. Senior Ashley Moseley once again took charge all throughout her 76 minutes of play scoring the game’s first goal in less than 10 minutes of the game.
“After a couple of hard games, Coach told us to go out there and score early,” said junior captain Amy Atkinson.
From here on the Sunbirds started to play more aggressively on both sides of the field. The Eagles answered back much later, but it was clear that neither team was going to give up. In the 60th minute of the second half, Fresno got their chance.
The Sunbirds capitalized on a huge mistake by Eagle goalie, Sophomore Erin Frushon. She was receiving the soccer ball beyond the box when she unexpectedly tripped over the turf, and the ball rolled right off her hands and into Sunbird junior Jessica Pereschica’s feet for the easy goal.
“It was disappointing to lose the lead, but a lot of weird stuff happens in soccer,” said Atkinson about the unfortunate slip. “[Frushon] is the hardest working player I know; we really trust her … we just have to step up our game and go out their and play the best soccer we can.”
Overtime seemed inevitable as the time was running out, but a Biola breakaway ensued. Immediately the crowd went silent as Sam David received a pass from Ashley Moseley. David beat the Sunbird’s goalie and kicked in the games winning goal, and her sixth goal of the season. The cheers of the Biola fans signified the Eagles snapping their four game losing streak by winning 2-1.
Last week, the women lost a tough GSAC game to Concordia. Eagle’s opposing team scored in the 29th minute, however, the Eagles struggled to get the ball past Concordia’s goalkeeper. Freshman Sunbird Bekah Garvin had a noteworthy five saves, and on the Biola side Frushon collected six saves off 14 shots. Atkinson had a possible opportunity to put the game into overtime, but unfortunately her shot was stopped
and Eagles lost 1-0.
The season is winding down with only a few more games left, but the competition remains strong. Women’s soccer has entered into the difficult part of their season facing opponents such as rivals Azusa Pacific, California Baptist, and Concordia. Games will be harder as their next three matches will be against Point Loma, Vanguard, and The Master’s whom are all listed in the Top seven of the GSAC poll.
Women’s soccer will play an away game versus Point Loma Sea Lions on Saturday. The Eagles will try to gain their first road win as they currently stand at 6-5-1 overall and 2-5-0 in conference.
