BOX SCORE

LA MIRADA, Calif. --- After a dramatic, physical contest between Biola and Vanguard University ended in a 1-1 draw, the Eagles managed to escape and advance by winning a penalty kick shootout 4-2 on Wednesday night in a GSAC Quarterfinal match at Al Barbour Field.

The official result of the match goes down as a tie, which leaves the Eagles with an overall record of 12-3-2, while the Lions end their season with a 7-7-4 mark. Biola, the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament, advances to the GSAC Semifinals to face No. 2 Azusa Pacific University at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday (Nov. 7) in Azusa.

The match was a thriller from start to finish as the teams did battle for the second time in seven days. However, after 110 minutes, the two teams were deadlocked at 1-1 and penalty kicks were needed to determine which side advanced.

Sophomore Aaron Fenlason, who had faced just one penalty kick in his two seasons at Biola and none in 2009, came up huge with a save on the first shot. Marco Ruvalcaba then stepped up and scored to give the Eagles a 1-0 advantage after the first round. In the second, both shooters -- Vanguard's Landon Herrera and Biola's Cody Shelton -- converted the spot kick, leaving Biola a 2-1 lead.

In the third, Vanguard's Scott Roquemore missed the net with a shot to the right and Shalom Bako blasted a shot to the top shelf to put the Eagles up 3-1. Vanguard stayed alive with a goal by Adam Holstein, but Biola ended the match as Humberto Toscan sent the shot past the keeper.

The shootout was the first Biola has been involved in since the 1998 GSAC Tournament when the Eagles lost 4-2 at Westmont in a first-round match.

Biola got off to a strong start in the match as Kennedy Chongo scored an impressive goal in the 34th minute to give the Eagles an early 1-0 lead. The junior, who was recently named to the All-GSAC team, controlled a long pass from sophomore defender Cody Shelton, then turned and fired a shot from about 25 yards out, beating the keeper for the opening goal.

The teams continued to battle into the second half with the Eagles clinging to the 1-0 lead. But the Lions took advantage of a Biola foul just outside the box to tie the score at 1-1. Tomislav Colic blasted a shot to the upper V from 20 yards out to even things up in the 54th minute.

After that, things got a bit more physical with six cards being shown over the final 34 minutes of regulation including a yellow and subsequent red card to Vanguard Head Coach Randy Dodge just over two minutes after the tying goal.

Both teams battled back and forth over the final 30 minutes with each side having a number of quality scoring chances. In the 60th minute, Chongo beat the Vanguard back line and with a Lion player draped all over him, fired a shot just wide of the net.

With five minutes left in regulation, Vanguard had a great scoring chance with a blast by Andrew Casco from just inside the box. But Fenlason came up huge, making a great save to preserve the tie.

Biola came back down a few minutes later and Ruvalcaba got an open shot at the Vanguard net, but sent a quick shot just over the bar.

The two overtime periods did not result in many legitimate scoring chances, but each side peppered the others' net with shot after shot as the teams combined for eight shots in the 20 minutes of extra time. The Eagles were hoping to repeat history as they edged the Lions 2-1 in double overtime just one week ago. But it was not meant to be despite three decent chances in the second OT.

Fenlason was fantastic in the match as he has been for the Eagles all season. The sophomore, who also earned All-GSAC honors, recorded five saves in the contest to keep the team in the match.

Biola outshot the Lions 20-12, but was only able to put two on goal. Vanguard goalkeeper Trevor Herrera was forced to make just one save on the night.

The Eagles advance to the GSAC Semifinals for the first time since 2005, though they will be looking for a different result this year. In 2005, Biola beat Point Loma Nazarene in the GSAC Quarterfinals, but lost 4-1 in a semifinal match at Azusa Pacific. The Eagles were victorious over the Cougars when the two teams met earlier this season, winning 1-0 in La Mirada. However, Biola has lost its last four matches in Azusa and is just 1-7-0 against APU in its last eight matches against its arch-rival.

Azusa Pacific, the No. 2 tournament seed, held off No. 7 Fresno Pacific, 2-1, in its first-round match on Tuesday. In the other two quarterfinals, top-seed The Master's College defeated No. 8 California Baptist 1-0 and No. 5 Westmont pulled off a 1-0 upset win at No. 4 Concordia in an overtime match.

Saturday's match at Azusa Pacific will kick-off at 2:00 p.m. with the winner advancing to face the winner of the other semifinal between The Master's College and Westmont in Santa Clarita.