Box Score SANTA BARBARA, Calif. --- It wasn't as shocking as Muhammad Ali's rope-a-dope, but No. 12 Biola's adjustment to defense heavy play in a rumble with hard hitting No. 4 Westmont gave the Eagles the results they wanted in a 1-0 overtime victory Wednesday afternoon.

Coming into the match, the Eagles were acutely aware that Westmont led the entire NAIA with 52 goals on the season and decided to hunker down on defense instead of being baited into a shootout. Despite the Warriors' 15 shots and majority control of possession throughout the match, the Eagles held firm and continued to chip away with opportunistic counter-attacks to eventually reap the reward of an own goal from a Westmont defender.

"It is a huge win to come up to Westmont and win against a tremendous side on their field," said Head Coach Erin Brunelle. "Westmont was definitely putting us under a ton of pressure with their possession and services toward goal. But eventually the momentum we created led to a dangerous throw from McKenna Marmelstein and a good challenge from Taylor Venegas to force the own goal."

The Eagles do not typically ask forwards like Venegas, Jessie Burns and Alexis Lee to race back to their own 18 yard box and help with defense, but each player made crucial plays in this match to neutralize dangerous runs down the sides of the pitch for the Warriors. For the most part, it was all they could do to help the midfielders and backs who had to survive what seemed to be a never ending sequence of forward passes from Westmont.

The problems that came with dealing with the Warriors' offense meant the Eagles could not attack much for themselves, as the afternoon's total of eight shots is less than half of their typical attack output. But Biola's confidence in the match only increased as time progressed because the Eagles really bought into winning by any means necessary.

"In the second half we were winning more balls and connecting on more attacks because we read their movements better," said Brunelle. "We knew that all we needed was one goal in overtime if we kept our momentum going."

That momentum finally bowled the Warrior defense over once the golden goal period started. Venegas almost provided an original ending of her own in the 92nd second minute had it not been for a stubborn crossbar. After darting through the Westmont defense, Venegas launched an open shot that deflected back to a Westmont defender just when everyone was sure the ball fell over the goalline.

But even that could not faze Biola, as they quickly regrouped on a connection that sent Samantha Verduzco racing down the right side a minute after Venegas' shot. Once the ball was cleared out of bounds, Marmelstein sent her patented long throw into the box for it to be deflected far post and into the net for the Biola victory.

The win marks the third consecutive shutout for Biola and improves their record to 10-0-1 and 4-0-1 in Golden State Athletic Conference play. The Warriors suffer their first home loss of the year and fall to 9-2-1 (2-2-0 GSAC).

On Saturday, Biola hopes to remain one of the few undefeated teams in the NAIA and continue a road winning streak in a match against San Diego Christian at 1:30 p.m. The match will be held at Cuyamaca College.