BOX SCORE
LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Freshman Zach Bautista scored for Biola to balance out a Westmont penalty kick as the two GSAC rivals battled to a 1-1 draw on Wednesday night at Al Barbour Field.
The Eagles move to 6-6-2 on the season and are now 1-5-2 in GSAC play while the Warriors improve to 5-6-2 and 3-4-2 in the conference.
The two teams battled tooth-and-nail through the entire match in what proved to be a thrilling contest. The defenses for both teams started out strong in the first half as neither side was able to find the back of the net.
Biola had a great chance in the first half as the Bautista brothers nearly got the Eagles on the scoreboard first. In the 35th minute, Zach had a crack at a shot from about 15 yards out blocked and roll right to brother Nick, who took a stab at it only to see it wind up in the hands of Westmont netminder Justin Etherton.
In the second half, Biola started strong and was finally rewarded for its efforts in the 58th minute. Sophomore Kennedy Chongo worked the ball down the near side of the field, beat a defender and sent a pass into the box. The pass found the feet of Zach Bautista who tucked it inside the far post to give the Eagles the lead.
Westmont frantically fought back to tie the match and eventually would do just that eight minutes later. The Warriors' pressure culminated in a near-breakaway which was thwarted as a Biola player tackled the charging player in the box. The referee immediately signaled for a penalty kick. Anthony Niboli easily converted the spot kick to tie the match at 1-1.
Neither team let up down the stretch, though Biola had numerous chances to win outright, especially in overtime where the Eagles outshot Westmont 4-1. However, the golden goal never came and the teams settled for the tie.
Biola freshman goalkeeper Aaron Fenlason made four saves and was outstanding in goal for the Eagles to preserve the draw. Etherton was equally up to the task, recording five saves for Westmont.
Biola returns to action on Tuesday (Oct. 28), hosting California Baptist University in its final home match of the regular season. The contest is scheduled to kick-off at 7:00 p.m.
