Women’s soccer started their 2018 season with a bang in their home opener at Al Barbour Field Thursday night, coming away with a dramatic 3-2 win over Cal State Dominguez Hills in overtime.
Junior forward Annmarie Alvarez saved the day in overtime, scoring her second goal of the game to push the Eagles to victory.
“Pure tunnel vision, I just saw nothing but the goal and the net I didn’t even see the goalie, I really just zoned in. I wanted that win for our team, I feel like we deserved it we played hard the entire game,” Alvarez said.
Following last year’s’ NCCAA championship run, the Eagles have high hopes for this season but do not want to look too far to the future, according to head coach Erin Brunelle.
“ We are a different team. Every year is a new team, but we obviously have the belief that we can get back to the NCCAAs, but it’s gonna take a lot of work having to finish top three in the conference, that’s gonna be a challenge,” Brunelle said.
Biola started their push for a second consecutive NCCAA berth with an early goal in the seventh minute on a beautiful cross from junior defender Colie Martin that Alvarez poked past the goalie for the lead.
They would score again in the 29th minute when the Toros goalie bobbled a shot on goal and junior forward Sarah Yang swooped in for the putback for a 2-0 lead.
As halftime drew near, CSU Dominguez Hills drew within one goal on a corner kick that was converted by Toros forward Jenn Garfias. This left the score at 2-1 at halftime.
The second half became a defensive battle as both teams battled back and forth, attempting to score the tie or an insurance goal. Freshman goalkeeper Viviana Poli played particularly well, saving several strong shots from the Toros.
Late in the game, the Toros made a strong push that resulted in an equalizer from Holly Kaemerle in the seventy eighth minute.
The game went to overtime, but the Eagles continued to fight. Seven minutes into overtime a great pass from junior forward Sarah Jeffries was picked up by Alvarez and rocketed past the goalie to give Biola the win.
The Eagles continue play Saturday at 6 p.m. against Cal State Los Angeles.
