Box Score
LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Huge. Massive. Exorbitant. Enormous. Gigantic. Immense. Colossal. All words that could easily describe the 3-1 victory Biola Men's Soccer got over its bitter rival Westmont at Al Barbour Field on Tuesday night.
 
Biola came into the match with something to prove having scored just three goals over the last four games and representing the school that has fewer than one-third of the victories in the all-time series between these two sides.
 
"They have had a great program for so long," said Head Coach Todd Elkins. "So I looked at how we stacked up against them all time to give us a little bit of extra motivation coming into today. It is always exciting to play Westmont."
 
The Eagles' relentless offensive pressure and brilliant ability to turn defense into offense at the turn of a hat was the key to proving they were the better 11 on the field throughout the night tonight.
 
With a game as emotionally charged as this one is on each side the first goal means so much more than just a one-goal advantage. It means that early on that team has asserted itself as the side to beat, not simply a side that would lay down and be happy with a draw.
 
It was Biola's dynamic dup of senior captains that provided that early advantage in this one with an unbelievable display of tenacity and talent in the 18^th minute that turned what looked to be a dead run into the early lead.
 
Stephen Tanquary came up quickly on the Westmont keeper, Josh Glover, who had just secured possession for Westmont, and craftily swept the ball away from the imposing junior keeper and right to the feet of his running mate, O'Keefe, who followed through and hit the empty net goal to put Biola on top.
 
"At important times we stepped up," said Elkins. "Tanq picking the pocket of their keeper at the beginning of the game was a good job of taking advantage of their mistake and putting pressure on them. That was a crucial point in the game."
 
That was the only goal of the first half as neither team could find a way to break through with any momentum for the remainder of the period. Biola's back line did a fantastic job of dealing with balls Westmont would knockdown in the first half and allowed a total of zero shots-on-goal through the first 45 minutes.
 
The second half saw Westmont with a bit more pace and also saw the Eagles struggle to clear the ball when it was bouncing around in the Warriors' offensive zone.
 
Before Westmont could turn any of those opportunities into critical scoring chances Biola found the back of the net for a second time to extend its lead. It was Leo Contreras who finished this one to record a goal in his first game back from injury.
 
He had a magnificent sliding finish off a ball pushed forward from Joey O'Keefe and Jarrett Pugh to bump the ball just past the diving keeper like he was hitting a ball with a pool cue.
 
It would not be until the 77^th minute that Westmont would finally get its first shot to go on target. That one was dealt well with by JT Addington as it began to feel like Biola was on its way to its fifth shutout of the season.
 
However, the Warriors' very next strike came off a great run by Tim Heiduk who took advantage of a 1-on-1 chance at goal and buried one to the back right corner of the net.
 
That ramped up the intensity around the field as for the first time in the entire match it actually seemed as if the Westmont 11 came to play and came to win the game.
 
The final nail in that coffin came when Devin Leon got his much sought after third goal of the season. The junior was able to pair up with O'Keefe, who had himself a whale of a ball game, to put the icing on the cake and lead the Eagles to a 3-1 victory.
 
This goal came after a beautiful turn by the Eagles in the midfield. O'Keefe was able to slide the ball from his position at the far post to find Leon on the near post as he bashed it to back of the net.
 
"Overall, we are pleased because this is a very good win for us and it puts in good shape," said Elkins.
 
The win is a big one for the Eagles who are now 4-1 against Westmont since Elkins took over as head coach in 2013. The team improves to 6-3-1 (2-0-1 GSAC) and has not lost since Sept. 16. Westmont falls to 4-4-1 (1-2 GSAC).
 
Biola has off until it hosts William Jessup for a 4:30 p.m. matchup on Oct. 8.