People often say that some of the most exciting plays in all of sports consist of game-winning shots. Baseball has the walk off home run, football has the last second field goal, basketball has the buzzer beater, and soccer…well soccer has the time expiring, game-winning goal. Last Saturday, Biola used a last second goal to advance to the final round of the GSAC Championships.
With 33 seconds left in the game, Eagle’s midfielder Zach Bautista took a cross from forward, Kennedy Chongo and nailed it past the keeper for the goal. The goal gave Biola a 1-0 victory and bumped their overall record to 13-3-2. Azusa meanwhile suffers their second loss in a row to the Eagles after coming up victorious in their previous seven matches.
Even though the Cougars had 14 shots for the afternoon, only one of them was on goal. Biola’s keeper Aaron Fenlason made the easy save. Meanwhile, the Eagles had seven of their 15 shots on goal, with Cougar keeper Tyler Stromberg making saves on six of the seven shots. The Eagles caught several breaks throughout the afternoon as three shots from the Cougars found the crossbar. However, one of the biggest blows for the Cougars came when Cougar defender Gareth Tomlinson drew a straight red card for throwing an elbow at Fenlason.
The exciting semifinal victory came just three days after Biola knocked off Vanguard University in the first round of the playoffs in shootout fashion. After 110 minutes of tied soccer (1-1), Biola defeated Vanguard 4-2 in a shootout where senior forward, Humberto Toscan nailed home the winning penalty shot. Biola has now won four of their last five matches with their only loss coming to Master’s.
The Eagles find themselves in uncharted waters as they advance to the championship game for the first time in school history.
The winner of the GSAC Tournament receives and automatic berth the NAIA Championship Tournament, while the other side will hope for an at-large berth. The highest-ranked teams in next week’s poll which did not win their conference’s automatic bid will be awarded the national tournament’s at-large bids. Biola’s men’s soccer still has a chance to advance to the NAIA Championship Tournament with a loss, but it will depend on where they rank with their at-large bid.
Earlier in the season, Bryan Kuderman called his team “epic” and fun. Biola looks to take their epic season one step further as they kick off at The Master’s College in Santa Clarita at 2:00 pm this Saturday. Master’s is ranked No. 1 in GSAC and defeated the Eagles in the last regular game of the season with a 2-1 victory. Biola looks to avenge their previous loss to the Mustangs and advance to the NAIA tournament.
