Two weeks ago, Biola’s men’s soccer traveled up to Master’s College to play for the No. 1 spot. Master’s bettered Biola in a match that ended with a 2-1 victory for the Mustangs.
Last Saturday, the Eagles and Mustangs once again found themselves in a significant GSAC match, this time with the conference title and an automatic berth to the NAIA Tournament. Once again, the Mustangs edged the Eagles allowing the Mustangs to automatically clinch a spot at the NAIA Tournament. However, the loss did not end Biola’s season as the Eagles were able to clinch an at large berth to the national tournament.
Master’s got on the board in the 14th minute when Jacob Marchesani took a feed from Doug Armstrong and Joel Peloffu and nailed it past Biola’s keeper Aaron Fenlason. The big blow came to when Eagles’ defender Jared Fenlason drew a red card in the 20th minute. With the Eagles playing a man down for the rest of the match, the Mustangs used the open man and opened up the score in the second half.
Even though the Eagles moved the ball better in the second half and opened up their opportunities, the Mustangs still managed to slip two goals past Biola before the Eagles even got on the board. Just one minute into the start of the second half, Joel Puluffo nailed a goal in the upper shelf from about 20 yards out, and the Mustangs had a lead from which they never looked back. They added a goal in the 63rd minute on an indirect free kick from inside the penalty box.
Down 3-0 with 20 minutes left in the game, the Eagles retaliated on one of many opportunities when Marco Ruvalcaba nailed a penalty kick after a Mustangs handball inside the penalty box. The Eagles pushed hard on the offensive front in the final 20 minutes, but the Mustangs keeper Kevin Lawson came up with several incredible saves in the final 20 minutes. Lawson managed to stop three shots within a span of 15 seconds as the Eagles continued to pepper the net.
The Eagles will be making their third appearance to the national tournament. The previous two trips to the nationals came in 1981 and 1987 where the Eagles have a combined record of 0-2-2. They will travel to Brownsville, Texas on Saturday where they play the first round of the playoffs against the University of Texas at Brownsville. UTB is the sixth overall seed in the tournament and was ranked No. 14 in the final NAIA rankings. The Scorpions finished the 2009 season in undefeated fashion, posting a 17-0-1 overall record and going 9-0-0 in conference.
The rest of the tournament will be hosted at Fresno Pacific University and will continue after the Thanksgiving vacation. Visit the NAIA Web site at http://naia.cstv.com/sports/m-soccer/2009championship.html where you can stay updated on scores, stats, and live action.
