BOX SCORE

LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola scored a pair of goals in the first half and fought off a furious comeback attempt to pull out a 2-1 upset win over No. 20 Vanguard University in a GSAC match on Tuesday at Al Barbour Field in La Mirada.

The Eagles improve to 5-5-0 on the season and 1-1-0 in GSAC play. The Lions, ranked No. 20 in the latest NAIA National Ratings, have now lost three of their last four matches and fall to 5-3-0 and 0-2-0 in conference.

Biola got off strong against a rather sluggish Vanguard squad and created a number of scoring chances early. In the sixth minute, the Eagles' pressure finally come though as forward Shalom Bako was pulled down in the box leading to a penalty kick. Senior Colin Kilpatrick stepped up and took the spot kick and converted.

Biola added an important insurance goal in the 40th minute. Sophomore Ryan Brodmann, who had just entered the match less than 30 seconds early, took a pass down the right side of the field and crossed it perfectly to junior Nick Bautista who finished by beating the keeper to the near post.

In the second half, Vanguard put on more pressure and pulled within a goal in the 73rd minute as Landon Herrera headed home a pass from Christopher Leiva.

But the Biola defense clamped down and did not allow Vanguard a legitimate scoring opportunity the rest of the evening.

On the night, the Eagles outshot the Lions 16-8 and held a 7-5 edge in corner kicks.

Freshman goalkeeper Tyler Higgins made two saves and faced eight shots to earn his fifth victory of the season.

Biola hits the road for another GSAC match against a team which is sure to be nationally-ranked, heading to face undefeated Point Loma Nazarene on Saturday (Sept. 29) at 1:00 p.m.