Box Score FULLERTON, Calif. --- Despite holding a commanding 17-8 advantage in shots and dominating the game pretty much from start to finish, Biola fell short in the only category that mattered, losing 1-0 at Hope International University on Tuesday.
The loss snaps a two-game winning streak for the Eagles, who fall to 8-5-1 on the season and to 4-3-0 in conference play. Biola is still in second place in the conference standings, though San Diego Christian--which trails the Eagles by two points--hosts Arizona Christian on Wednesday night. Hope International sneaks into a tie for fourth with San Diego Christian in the conference standings with a 3-3-1 GSAC mark and is now 9-5-1 overall.
The Eagles opened the game strong, firing off six shots in the first 18 minutes. One was cleared off the line by a Hope defender, one was saved by Hope goalie Jhovany Hernandez and the other five missed the mark. The rest of the half was pretty evenly played at midfield with Biola holding a 7-5 shot advantage at the break.
In the second half, the Eagles again fired up the offense and took four shots in the first 11 minutes of the period. Biola kept up the offensive until a foul gave Hope a chance to score in the 73rd minute. Edgar Bran took the free kick from about 30 yards out and put it right into the middle of the box where Zach Hoffer headed it up and over the Biola keeper into the net.
Biola continued to press forward and got a break in the 82nd minute as Juan Carlos Rodriguez was shown a straight red card for an elbow to an Eagle player. Biola was only able to muster one more shot over the final eight minutes of the match as Hope packed its remaining nine players in Biola's attacking third. Daniel Chew got Biola's last look at goal, a crack from 15 yards out, but it was saved by Hernandez.
Hernadez made five saves en route to his GSAC-leading eighth shutout of the season. Biola's Joshua Crichton made a pair of saves for the Eagles in the loss.
Biola hopes to get back on track, but has it's work cut out for it. The Eagles host No. 4 Concordia on Saturday in its next-to-last home match of the season. Kick-off is slated for 7:00 p.m.
