Molli Kaptein

Women's Soccer September 14, 2016 Brandon Taylor, Sports Information Assistant

Verduzco, Eagles Dominant In No-Doubt Win

Biola dominates in all facets of the match and scores three goals in both halves.

Box Score LA MIRADA, Calif. --- In a few ways, Tuesday's decisive 6-0 win at home for Biola Women's Soccer is very familiar. The Eagles continue to dominate at home, 4-0 this season and 25-5-3 in the program's last 33 home matches. Moreover, two new Eagles scored their first goals of the season to give Biola 12 individual scorers.

But this no-doubt win over Antelope Valley will stand out amongst the other non-conference tilts for the statistical marvels it contained. Samantha Verduzco now has six goals on the season after netting the program's first hat trick since Taylor Venegas had one on Sept. 12 of last year against Pomona-Pitzer.

And yet that stat was bested by one other. The midfield and back line combined for the jaw dropping feat of shutting out the Pioneers: zero corner kicks, zero shots-on-goal and zero shots of any other variety.

"This win really solidified our confidence with one more week headed into conference," said Head Coach Erin Brunelle. "It took us awhile, but we combined well on attacks and Sam Verduzco unleashed and scored in bunches, which is exciting."

Verduzco was in the right place at the right time all night, bulldozing past Pioneer defenders and directing assists from three teammates in for her goals. The first third of her hat trick came in the 17th minute as the Eagles' first goal of the game. It began with a screaming corner kick from Ashley Ramirez and ended as quickly as it started when Verduzco headed it home from the middle of the six-yard box.

The second came about 15 minutes later, when a horizontal pass from Mariah Ziemer found Verduzco's feet outside of the penalty area. After one step to the left, Verduzco let a heat seeker loose to the top right corner of the goal that allowed Biola to take a 3-0 lead by halftime and allowed Brunelle to rest many of the regulars for the rest of the match.

The junior forward wasn't done though. The super sub trio of Ramirez, Venegas and Verduzco re-entered the match with 21 minutes left and immediately got to work, eventually combining for the topper to the hat trick with four minutes left in play. Venegas, who scored her fourth goal of the season 10 minutes earlier, was initially looking for goal number two with a long attacking run down the left side, but the captain saw Verduzco's following run, and laid the ball in front on the goal for Verduzco to hammer away and make the score 5-0 at the time.

"The ladies did really well to take the ball out of the air and combine with each other to create attacks," said Brunelle. "But I also think it was particularly cool that both Brianna Mikalson and Kayla White were able to go one step further to get goals for themselves, since scoring doesn't happen for backs very often.

Mikalson and White's goals certainly won't be lost in the scoring shuffle, as their scores came as results of their characteristically high work rate. Both of them surprised the Antelope Valley keeper with shots from distance that don't typically come from defenders, earning the oohs and aahs from the crowd as their strikes sailed into to onion bag. The goals were the first of Mikalson's collegiate career and the third for White.

Biola returns to the pitch Saturday for a road test in Riverside against California Baptist.

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Players Mentioned

#2 Bri Mikalson: Def; 5' 3"; Junior

#19 Ashley Ramirez: MF; 5' 5"; Junior

#23 Taylor Venegas: Fwd; 5' 10"; Senior

#26 Samantha Verduzco: F/D; 5' 9"; Junior

#7 Kayla White: D/MF; 5' 2"; Senior

#11 Mariah Ziemer: MF; 5' 10"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#2 Bri Mikalson
: 5' 3"; Junior
: Def

#19 Ashley Ramirez
: 5' 5"; Junior
: MF

#23 Taylor Venegas
: 5' 10"; Senior
: Fwd

#26 Samantha Verduzco
: 5' 9"; Junior
: F/D

#7 Kayla White
: 5' 2"; Senior
: D/MF

#11 Mariah Ziemer
: 5' 10"; Senior
: MF

Biola University Athletics

Scoreboard

Scoreboard

Verduzco, Eagles Dominant In No-Doubt Win

Biola dominates in all facets of the match and scores three goals in both halves.

Players Mentioned

#2 Bri Mikalson

#19 Ashley Ramirez

#23 Taylor Venegas

#26 Samantha Verduzco

#7 Kayla White

#11 Mariah Ziemer

Players Mentioned

#2 Bri Mikalson

#19 Ashley Ramirez

#23 Taylor Venegas

#26 Samantha Verduzco

#7 Kayla White

#11 Mariah Ziemer

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