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Women's Soccer Brandon Taylor, Sports Information Assistant

Underclassmen Usher In Senior Night Celebration

Biola explodes for five goals on Senior Night to complete undefeated home schedule.

The Eagles meet at midfield to celebrate a goal from Maddy Brown that put Biola up 1-0
Box Score LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Before the final regular season match of the 2016 campaign members of Biola's junior class got on the public address system and spoke words of gratitude in celebration of the five seniors on Head Coach Erin Brunelle's roster: Jessie Burns, McKenna Marmelstein, Taylor Venegas, Kayla White, and Mariah Ziemer.

The juniors' work turned out to be a fitting start for the No. 5 Eagles on Saturday evening, as three different underclassmen would express their gratitude for the seniors in the form of goals en route to a 5-0 victory over San Diego Christian.

"It was great to keep [our six match] winning streak going and to do so in a way where we found the back of the net multiple times," said Brunelle. "We're also very thankful for the leadership that our senior class brings and we look forward to where they take the team the rest of the season."

Senior leadership was on display early and often in this match, as the Eagles turned to Marmelstein time and again to give them dangerous set pieces on long throws from the left side. Although the Hawks defense was able to send Mermelstein's third throw-in out of the 18-yard box they would not be able to keep the Eagles off the scoreboard, as Madyson Brown sent the free ball screaming back into the box and directly at the upper left corner of goal to give Biola a 1-0 lead.

After the next 35 minutes would elapse without another goal, Burns instigated her own senior-to-underclassman connection to begin the scoring in the second half. The senior captain threaded a ball through the Hawks defense to meet Paula-Marie Labate on her attacking run, giving the freshman all she needed to race into the 18-yard area and beat the keeper one-on-one to double Biola's lead. Burns would make her own scoring mark with her third penalty kick goal of the season fifteen minutes later.

With a comfortable 3-0 lead, the seniors stepped aside again to let another freshman in the person of Annmarie Alvarez take center stage in the match and put the final punctuation on senior night. Alvarez put the match well beyond San Diego Christian's reach and finished a record breaking win for the program with a flourish by scoring a pair of goals in the final 10 minutes of play. Her goals were assisted by Brown, Marmelstein, and freshman defender Sierra Miller.

"Annmarie was a huge sub off the bench for us with her two goals and it was a big night for her," said Brunelle.  "We've actually had to ask a few young players to step up into more prominent roles due to injuries and they did a great job of implementing what we've worked on in training the past few days."

With the win, the 2016 senior class becomes the winningest class in women's soccer program history. The five seniors honored tonight currently have 50 victories during their four years careers, which tops the previous best in program history of 49 that was held by the 2015 senior class. Additionally, the 2016 group's 29 victories at Al Barbour Field places them in a tie for first in program history for wins at home.

The victory also places Biola back in first place in the Golden State Athletic Conference with a record of 13-0-1 (7-0-1 GSAC). San Diego Christian drops to eighth place at 6-9-1 (1-6-1 GSAC).

The Eagles return to action against Menlo in Atherton on Thursday at 4:00 p.m. and look to remain one of the four teams that are still undefeated in NAIA women's soccer.
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Players Mentioned

Madyson Brown

#14 Madyson Brown

D/MF
5' 6"
Sophomore
Jessie Burns

#18 Jessie Burns

MF
5' 7"
Senior
McKenna Marmelstein

#10 McKenna Marmelstein

MF/D
5' 8"
Senior
Taylor Venegas

#23 Taylor Venegas

Fwd
5' 10"
Senior
Kayla White

#7 Kayla White

D/MF
5' 2"
Senior
Mariah Ziemer

#11 Mariah Ziemer

MF
5' 10"
Senior
Sierra Miller

#13 Sierra Miller

D
5' 6"
Freshman
Annmarie Alvarez

#22 Annmarie Alvarez

F
5' 8"
Freshman
Paula-Marie Labate

#28 Paula-Marie Labate

F
5' 6"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Madyson Brown

#14 Madyson Brown

5' 6"
Sophomore
D/MF
Jessie Burns

#18 Jessie Burns

5' 7"
Senior
MF
McKenna Marmelstein

#10 McKenna Marmelstein

5' 8"
Senior
MF/D
Taylor Venegas

#23 Taylor Venegas

5' 10"
Senior
Fwd
Kayla White

#7 Kayla White

5' 2"
Senior
D/MF
Mariah Ziemer

#11 Mariah Ziemer

5' 10"
Senior
MF
Sierra Miller

#13 Sierra Miller

5' 6"
Freshman
D
Annmarie Alvarez

#22 Annmarie Alvarez

5' 8"
Freshman
F
Paula-Marie Labate

#28 Paula-Marie Labate

5' 6"
Freshman
F
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