In 2013, Todd Elkins took over the reins of the Men's Soccer team at Biola University after five successful seasons as the head coach of the women's team.
In his first season at the helm he led the Eagles' men's squad to its most successful regular season in program history, as they finished 13-3-1 (.794) after 17 games heading into the Golden State Athletic Conference tournament.
| Elkins' Record at Biola |
Year
2013
2014
2015
2016
17-18
2017
2018 .
TOTAL |
Overall
14-4-1
7-6-4
15-5-1
10-6-1
Biola
8-8-2
8-8-2
62-37-11 (.614) |
Conference
7-3 (2nd)
4-3-3 (6th) 8-1-1 (1st)
5-5-0 (6th)
Enters the
7-5-1 (6th)
6-4-1 (5th)
37-21-6 (.625) |
Playoffs
GSAC Finals (L, 3-2)
GSAC 1st Round
NAIA 2nd Round
GSAC 1st Round
PacWest Conference
-
-
|
|
The successful regular season resulted in a solid run during the tournament, as the Eagles made it to the GSAC finals where they squared off with Concordia in Irvine, Calif. Biola lost 3-2 in a back-and-forth affair and as a result missed out on an NAIA tournament bid.
His second season was a frustrating one as Biola had a great group of forwards that had plenty of opportunities to score, but were not fantastic at clutch finishes. This led to four ties and a record just over .500 (7-6-4). The Eagles were knocked out of the GSAC Tournament in the first round, getting shutout 0-2 by Vanguard.
This disappointment was quickly turned to joy as he led the program to a 2015 GSAC Championship, GSAC Tournament Championship and berth in the NAIA National Tournament. Elkins earned his first GSAC Coach of the Year award that season, and he led Joey O'Keefe to the GSAC Player of the Year award and Leo Contreras to the GSAC Newcomer of the Year award. The team was represented well nationally and regionally with three NAIA All-Americans and four all-conference players.
The optimism was flowing as he entered his fourth season at the helm in 2016. He ended the year with another winning record at 10-6-1, but the team was eliminated in the first round of the Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament when they lost a penalty kick shootout at Vanguard.
During the Eagles' first season as an NCAA Division II program, Elkins' team immediately became a dangerous opponent that no team could look over. After opening the season with a tie against No. 4 UC San Diego, Biola collected big wins against Notre Dame De Namur and Azusa Pacific en route to a 7-5-1 conference record. The Eagles finished sixth in conference after being projected to finish ninth in the PacWest preseason poll.
The Eagles feisty play continued in 2018, with the injection on players like Leo Thompson, Oscar Rubalcava and others into the regular starting XI. The Eagles picked up two wins on their first Hawaii trip and gave top-ranked Azusa Pacific and Fresno Pacific a run for their money at Al Barbour Field befor finishing the season with two wins to record a winning conference record for the second-straight year.
Elkins has coached his players to 14 All-GSAC honors, six All-Americans, four CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-Americans and 13 NAIA Scholar-Athletes. In 2017, three players earned All-PacWest honors under Elkins' tutelage and senior Keaton Kerr was named a CoSIDA Academic All-American for the second-straight year. Then six Eagles earned All-PacWest honors in 2018, with transfer keeper Luis Rodriguez earning Player of the Year and senior captains Kousei Mattox and Parker Setran each picking up all-conference honors.
Elkins became the ninth coach in men's program history, but he is no stranger to Biola's soccer programs or the foes he's faced in the GSAC and PacWest. After playing four seasons and coaching one other at GSAC rival Westmont College, Elkins joined the women's coaching staff at Biola as an assistant under Mike Silzer before serving as women's head coach from 2008-14.
Elkins also spent four season at Maranatha High school, coaching the boys varsity team to three-straight undefeated seasons in Delphi League play.
As the women's head coach Elkins coached the team to five GSAC Tournament appearances and a 61-46-15 overall record.
