Biola Eagles men’s soccer  (0-2-1) lost to the Cal State San Marcos Cougars (2-0-0) on the road 3-1 Wednesday night in their 15th matchup ever. 

TIGHT FIRST HALF

The game started out promising as Biola was quick to capitalize on an offsides call against San Marcos as they scored a goal 8 minutes into the first half. Responsible for the point was junior Justin Eismann who scored on his first shot of his career with Biola with the assist from junior defender Nathan Kovalcik. 

Cal State San Marcos continued to attack as they got off two shots during the 22nd minute but were saved by junior Gijs van Schouten. However, the Cougars kept the ball close to Biola’s goal and this paid off when redshirt junior Oliver Reader tied the game at 1-1.

By the end of the first half, the score remained the same although Biola would get two more looks at the goal in the last ten minutes.

CHIPPY SECOND HALF

The second-half action quickly increased at little more than five minutes of playtime when Cal State San Marcos laced one in as redshirt senior Aaron Alvarez was set up nicely by fellow midfielder Ryan Brown. This put the Cougars up 2-1 against the Eagles. Biola attempted to respond with a kick toward the corner less than a minute later but it was handled by San Marcos sophomore goalkeeper Tony Flores.

Biola hung tough as the Cougars attempted four more shots in the ensuing twenty minutes but they came up empty. The following sequences would get chippier as yellow cards were handed out to Cougars’ players Ryan Brown and Alvarez before the 80th minute. However, Biola was unable to take advantage of them. The Eagles’ goalie van Schouten received a yellow card and forced a penalty kick for the Cougars.

San Marcos redshirt senior Ryan Meinardus scored off the penalty and gave his team a commanding 3-1 lead with less than ten minutes left in the match. A shot in the eighty-eighth minute by redshirt senior Dylan Memory aimed to give Biola a fighting chance but failed. The game ended with a 3-1 victory for the Cougars making them 2-0 on the season.

NEXT MATCH

Biola will play their next match against the #4 ranked team CSU Los Angeles Golden Eagles at home on Saturday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m.