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COMPLETE PRE-MATCH NOTES

BROWNSVILLE, Texas --- Biola's men's soccer team returns to the NAIA National Tournament for the first time in 22 years, facing the University of Texas-Brownsville in an Opening Round match at REK Field on the UTB campus on Saturday with kick-off scheduled for 6:00 p.m. CT.

The Eagles, who are having one of the most successful seasons in school history at 13-4-2, earned one of the final NAIA At-Large berths into the tournament field, which was announced last week.

This is the first tournament appearance for the Eagles since the 1987 season and just their third overall.

Biola is 0-2-2 in its two previous NAIA Tournament matches. Live stats and radio will be available for the
match courtesy of the University of Texas at Brownsville Sports Information Department. Links for these
broadcasts can be found at the top of the article.

The winner of Saturday's match advances to the 2009 NAIA National Championship Tournament to battle the winner of the match between Science and Arts (Okla.) (17-1-1) and Hastings (Neb.) (15-4-2) in a second round match on Tuesday, Dec. 1 at 4:30 p.m. in Fresno.

The Eagles earned the sixth and final at-large berth in the NAIA Tournament field after reaching the final of the Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament. Biola lost in the final match 3-1 to No. 7 The Master's College, which earned the GSAC's automatic berth.

En route to the conference final, Biola defeated No. 9 Azusa Pacific 1-0 in the semifinals on a goal by sophomore Zach Bautista with 33 seconds remaining in the match. Th e win was the Eagles' second over the Cougars this season, marking the first time Biola beat its arch-rival twice in one year. It was also the first time the Eagles had won back-to-back matches against Azusa Pacific since 1979.

In the GSAC quarterfinals, Biola played to a 1-1 draw with Vanguard University, but managed to advance in the tournament with a 4-2 shootout victory. Junior Kennedy Chongo netted the lone goal for the Eagles.

Texas-Brownsville is the sixth overall seed in the tournament field and was ranked No. 14 in the final NAIA rankings. The Scorpions earned an automatic berth as the champions of the Red River Athletic Conference with a perfect 9-0-0 record and finished the 2009 season without a loss with a 17-0-1 overall record. Texas-Brownsville, which is in just its third year of varsity competition, is making its second-straight trip to the NAIA Tournament. In 2008, the Scorpions lost 3-0 to Mobile (Ala.) in the opening round.