Box Score
COSTA MESA, Calif. --- Despite playing down a man for much of the first half and missing a key member of their defense, Biola managed to pull off a 1-0 victory at Vanguard in the first round of the GSAC Tournament on Wednesday night in Costa Mesa.
Senior forward Marco Ruvalcaba scored his team-best seventh goal of the season with an unassisted tally in the 77th minute as the fifth-seeded Eagles (11-5-2) to provide the only offense needed. From there, the defense and senior goalkeeper Aaron Fenlason took over as the goalie made four saves to earn his seventh shutout of the season.
Biola advances to the GSAC semifinals to face the regular-season champ and the tournament's top seed Fresno Pacific University on Saturday in Fresno. The start time has yet to be determined.
"Marco's goal was the nicest one we have scored this year," said Head Coach Bryan Kuderman. "Our team played so well tonight. They all stepped up and got the win despite being down a man. They are such a committed group. Each and every player stepped up and excecuted for us."
Despite being without the services of All-GSAC defender Cody Shelton, who had to sit out the game after receiving his fifth yellow card of the season in Saturday's regular-season finale, the Biola defense stepped up to the challenge and looked sharp throughout, holding the Lions' offense--which led the GSAC in shots and had been shutout just twice--to just 14 attempts and no goals.
The match got off to a pretty even start with the teams combining for just 10 shots in the opening 45 minutes--six of which came in the first 13. Vanguard had two of its six first-half shots in the first four minutes as a pair of shots were blocked by Biola defenders. One of the Eagles chances in the first half came from sophomore Dylan Wingrove, who had a great look at the goal blocked by a Vanguard defender in the 13th minute.
Things got a bit chippy in the second half as may have been expected as the teams battled for the second time in five days. During a scrum after a hard foul, a questionable red card was shown to Biola's Daniel Chew in the 55th minute, meaning the Eagles would play with 10 men for the final 35 minures of regulation.
Despite the disadvantage, the Eagles simply stepped up and began to control play again in a similar fashion to the first half of Saturday's win over Lions. Biola was able to break through the defense in the 77th minute as Ruvalcaba received a bouncing ball, settled if off his thigh and volleyed it to the far side of the goal to make it 1-0.
Biola fought off four more shots with two staying out thanks to great saves by Fenlason and managed a victory in Costa Mesa. The Eagles had been 1-7-0 since 1997 at Vanguard with the lone win coming back in 2002. The victory snapped a five-match losing streak in Costa Mesa which included two losses last year, one of which came in the GSAC Tournament semifinals.
The other three GSAC Tournament matches on Wednesday went according to the seeding. No. 1 Fresno Pacific scored a goal with 45 seconds left in regulation to defeat No. 8 Westmont, 2-1. No. 2 Azusa Pacific survived a scare against No. 7 Hope International, advancing 3-1 on penalty kicks after playing to a 1-1 draw. No. 3 Concordia had a relatively easy go of it, scoring early to beat No. 6 The Master's College, 2-1.
In Saturday's tournament semifinals, Biola heads to Fresno to face the No. 1 seeded Sunbirds while No. 2 Azusa Pacific hosts No. 3 Concordia. The winners play at the site of the highest remaining seed on Saturday, Nov. 12 in the GSAC Tournament Championship.
