Box Score IRVINE, Calif. --- Biola fought back valiantly after falling behind by a pair of goals, but could not complete the comeback, falling a goal short in its upset attempt against No. 6 Concordia on Saturday afternoon at Eagles Field in Irvine.
Biola, ranked No. 17 in the latest national poll, sees its five-match unbeaten streak come to an end as the Eagles fall to 5-3-1 and to 1-1-0 in GSAC play. Concordia, ranked No. 6, improves to 8-1-1 and to 2-0-0 in the conference.
The match has become an intense rivalry over the last few years, especially after Biola overcame a two-goal defect to end Concordia's season in the 2011 GSAC Tournament final in Irvine last year. This year's match-up--the first of two on the GSAC slate--was no different.
Biola had a pair of great scoring chances early. Two minutes in, Biola had a chance on the counter attack as Carlos Ballesteros slid a nice pass across the box to Stephen Tanquary. However, Tanquary never got a shot off as he was pulled off the ball by a Concordia defender, much to the chagrin of the Biola bench who wanted the penalty kick.
Tanquary had another pair of chances but nothing to show for them, missing the first and sending the second right at the Concordia keeper.
Despite the chances early, Biola conceded the first goal of the match with more controversy. A highly questionable foul call gave Concordia a free kick which was sent into the box and headed in by William Prado for his ninth goal of the season.
The match headed to the second half and become more intense. Both teams continued to create chances despite the foul count escalating quickly. After a hard foul by a Concordia player, a scrum ensued. During the scrum, Biola's Joey O'Keefe received a red card for rolling the ball toward the middle and hitting the referee in the back of the leg.
With the man advantage, Concordia broke through with the game's second goal thanks to yet more controversy.
After a great defensive play in the box, Biola's Joao Toscan went down with an injury and lay rolling in pain in the Biola box. The linesman waved his flag to signal to stop play and he seemed to be seen by everyone except for the center referee and Concordia's Omar De La Piedra. While everyone slowed to a stop, De La Piedra gathered in the ball abandoned by a Biola defender, dribbled down the field and shot it uncontested into the goal. However, the referee signaled for the goal and a 2-0 Concordia lead with 20 minutes left.
The match took a scary turn with eight minutes to play as a Concordia player hit heads with Biola's Sava Pantic as the two went up for a header. While Pantic was ok, the Concordia player was not and after a 20 minute delay had to be taken off the field in an ambulance.
After the delay, Biola came out firing, trying to tie the match in the final minutes. Carlos Ballesteros got Biola one step closer, heading in a goal off a free kick by Tony Montalvo with six minutes to play. The visitors had a few final chances to score but could not find the equalizer and fell 2-1.
Freshman net minder Joshua Crichton made a pair of saves to keep Biola in the contest.
Biola returns to action on Thursday, hosting GSAC newcomer Arizona Christian University at 7:00 p.m. at Al Barbour Field.
