Eagles return home from Arizona with mixed results

Men’s soccer suffers first loss of the season.

Freshman+forward+Riley+Waldeck+kicks+the+ball+to+an+open+teammate+on+the+Sept+9+game+against+Antelope+Valley.+%7C+Kalli+Thommen%2FTHE+CHIMES

Freshman forward Riley Waldeck kicks the ball to an open teammate on the Sept 9 game against Antelope Valley. | Kalli Thommen/THE CHIMES

Autumn Whitney, Writer

Freshman forward Riley Waldeck kicks the ball to an open teammate on the Sept. 9 game against Antelope Valley. The team suffered their first loss of the season against Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University on Sept. 14 with a final score of 6-1. | Kalli Thommen/THE CHIMES

 

This weekend the Biola Eagles came home with mixed results after playing two games in Prescott, Ariz.

On Saturday afternoon the Eagles matched up against Our Lady of the Lake University who defeated Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University 3-1 the previous day.

Despite a scoreless first half, the Eagles came out strong after halftime and freshman midfielder Jarrett Pugh put the ball in the net a mere two minutes after the break.

The game remained close throughout the rest of the second half, with Our Lady of the Lake scoring in the 86th minute. Only seconds later, junior forward Stephen Tanquary scored his fourth goal of the season for the Eagles, putting the team in the lead once more.

Freshman defender Clayton Mohler says that when the game is tied, the team works harder.

“There’s more urgency as the game gets towards the end,” said Mohler. “It gets intense and we all focus hard on the end of the game to get the result we’re looking for.”

Biola defeated Our Lady of the Lake 2-1.

Monday saw Biola match up against Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University on Embry-Riddle’s home turf. Embry-Riddle sought to come back after suffering from two recent defeats, one to Our Lady of the Lake, whom Biola had beaten the day before.

Although the Eagles outshot Embry-Riddle in the first half, the home team had more success with finding the back of the net. After the first 45 minutes, Embry-Riddle lead 2-1.

At the start of the second half, Embry-Riddle put pressure on Biola and scored three more goals in the first 18 minutes of the period. Twenty minutes later, in the 84th minute of the game, Embry-Riddle scored once again to further their lead to 6-1. This final score marked the Eagles’ first loss of the season.

“[Embry-Riddle] had just come off two straight losses, so they were hungry to come back and play,” said junior midfielder John Hanscom. “Soccer is one of those games where sometimes a team can find one thing and exploit it. I think that’s what happened to us.”

Despite the loss, the Eagles look forward to future games by learning from their experiences this weekend.

“In relation to our first game, which got really intense to the last moment, I think [the second game] shows that sometimes we wait for the end of the game to step up,” Mohler said. “We need to realize that the beginning of the game is just as important.”

The Eagles plan to focus on capitalizing on chances to score at all moments of the game.

“Any time you have an opportunity to score or put our team ahead, you have to take it and you have to be serious about it,” said Hanscom.

Biola seeks to come back from their heavy first loss when they play California State University San Marcos on Sept. 20.

0 0 votes
Article Rating