Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 PRESCOTT, Ariz. --- Biola soccer used up all 180 minutes it had on the pitch on Saturday afternoon, as both the men and women's squads used go-ahead goals in the final five minutes to secure 2-1 victories over Our Lady of the Lake (TX).
 
The women's squad went first, after a 30 minute or so delay due to lightning in the area. Despite the weather holding up the start and forcing the Eagles to cram inside the gym during pregame, Biola came out firing, seeking to win its fifth straight match to begin the season.
 
The Eagles controlled possession throughout the first half, taking chance after chance, but getting constantly turned aside by the No. 19 Saints' keeper, Gabriela Lopez. Lopez had a great contest, despite getting saddled with a loss, stopping 14 of Biola's 16 shots-on-goal.
 
Lopez's efforts between the pipes opened up an opportunity for Our Lady of the Lake, and the team capitalized on its first offensive attack of the afternoon, when Hayley Tiernay put one in the back of the net to put Biola in a 1-0 deficit.
 
"They were an opportunistic team," said Head Coach Todd Elkins. "We were attacking quite a bit more than them, but they got a good chance and scored a good goal. It seemed cruel since we had most of the chances to that point."
 
The Eagles had to play out the rest of the first half with this deficit, as the goal came in the 25^th minute, but after a halftime pep talk from Elkins came out focused and ready to strike for the game-tying goal.
 
They had to ensure they made the most of their chances, since they were going up against such a quality keeper, and they succeeded in that in the 52^nd minute.
 
Amanda Lillicrop, a senior, connected with Ashley Ramirez, a freshman, and the rookie put one past the keeper for her second goal in as many matches.
 
"It was a senior hooking up with a freshman, which was pretty great," said Elkins. "We were confident it was just a matter of time before we scored, but it was good to equalize early in the half."
 
Biola kept the pressure high, just barely missing out on a go-ahead goal when Margaret Guadarrama hit the crossbar in the middle of the half on a quality shot. The continual chances finally built to a head when with just :08 left on the clock Lillicrop tapped in a deflection off a Miranda Starbeck free kick to give Biola the win and save them 20 minutes of play in overtime.
 
Keeping away from playing that added time could prove to be crucial, as Biola needs to play on this same field again in just two days.
 
"This is a very good result on the road for us," said Elkins. "This field is a mile high and has very thick grass, which plays a lot slower than the turf we are used to. Both teams had to adjust today and will need to continue to adjust on Monday."
 
The Eagles move to 5-0-0 following this win, while the Saints fall to 2-4 on the season and will likely be out of the rankings when they are next released Sept. 23.
 
Men's soccer had a similar experience in its match, except it had to deal with a late offensive onslaught from the Saints that evened the opportunities both teams had to score.
 
It was a back-and-forth affair during a relatively unexciting first half that resulted in a 0-0 tie at halftime. The lack of excitement would fade rather quickly as two of Biola's standout newcomers, True Tamplin and Jarrett Pugh, connected on a go-ahead tally in just the third minute of the half.
 
"It was a good ball played in by True, and Jarrett just played it off his chest and scored. It was a great finish from a freshman," said Elkins.
 
The Eagles seemed comfortable with that one-goal lead, as they had the majority of possession and had an all-conference keeper between the pipes, but nothing could prepare them for the new gear the Saints shifted into with about 15 minutes left to play.
 
Our Lady of the Lake pushed Biola back on its heels and forced the team to put all its time and effort into playing sound defense and containing the consistent attack now coming from the Saints.
 
"We had a bunch of chances to get the lead throughout the second half, but in the last 15 minutes they started coming at us very hard," said Elkins. "They had a number of good chances to tie, and eventually one of their guys crushed an unstoppable shot to tie it."
 
That goal came with just 3:34 left in regulation and could have taken the wind out of the Eagles' sails, but Elkins mentioned a never-failing resiliency that has become a trademark of this team over the last few years.
 
On the very next attack a ball was played through to Stephen Tanquary, who faked a pass to Joey O'Keefe before burying a shot that was deflected by the keeper and had just enough steam to cross the line and give Biola the 2-1 advantage with 3:04 left to play.
 
The lead held up and Biola walked away with the win to improve to 3-0-1 In the year. Both teams face the host school, Embry-Riddle (AZ) on Monday afternoon.