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The Official Athletic Site of the Biola University Eagles

Scoreboard

Lord
0
HPU-WS HPU-WS (6-5-1 (2-4-1 PWC))
2
Winner BU-WS BU-WS (7-2-1 (3-2-1 PWC))
HPU-WS HPU-WS
(6-5-1 (2-4-1 PWC))
0
Final
2
BU-WS BU-WS
(7-2-1 (3-2-1 PWC))
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
HPU-WS HPU-WS 0 0 0
BU-WS BU-WS 1 1 2

Game Recap: Women's Soccer | | Brandon Taylor, Assistant Sports Information Director

Eagles Capitalize Against Sharks

Biola made the most of its best chances at goal and defeated Hawaii Pacific 2-0.

LA MIRADA, Calif. --- It took some time for the Biola Eagles to create chances on offense that had the potential to score. But the Eagles made sure their best opportunities found the back of the net on Wednesday and defeated Hawaii Pacific University, 2-0.

The wins pushes the Eagles' undefeated record at home to 5-0 this season and helps them improve to 3-2-1 in PacWest play. The visiting Sharks are now 2-4-1 in conference and 6-5-1 overall.

"We are in a position where we need to pull out some good results in these next few games because because the game are at home," said Head Coach Erin Brunelle. "Today we tried to learn our opponent as the game went on, so we tried to focus first on minimizing shots against. I thought the team did well to start of the game to not allow shots to be taken and to stay calm under pressure."

Biola limited Hawaii Pacific to just four shots during the first half while the Eagles took 11. Brunelle's team took its first shot of the match in the eighth minute and took an early lead thanks to the on-ball maneuvers of Paula-Marie Labate.

A great pass from senior Ashley Ramirez found Labate at the top left corner of the 18-yard box with a defender in front of her. Labate feigned a shot with her left foot to shake the defender and then took a strong kick with her right to beat the keeper and give Biola a 1-0 lead. It was the first time in the last four matches that the Eagles got the opening goal.

HPU took three shots at keeper Christina Rodriguez in its attempt to find an equalizer before halftime but all three chances came from distance and were easily cleaned up by the sophomore in goal. The Eagles' defense just seemed to gain more control of play as the match went on as the Sharks were prevented from taking any shots in the final 15 minutes of the half.

Centerbacks Madyson Brown and Cat Newberry saw an uptick in activity after the halftime break because of a change in strategy from the visiting team. The pair had to scramble to cover the Sharks' attempts to send the ball over the backline on the fly very frequently in the second half. And they were helped by the work of freshmen Danielle Lord in midfield to prevent quick counterattacks.

"We've been trying to figure out our midfield from game to game and [Lord] brought a calm presence that helped protect our centerbacks", said Brunelle. "She challenged well and was a defensive-minded midfielder, which helped free up our other midfielders to get forward more."

The Eagles' second goal came 22 minutes into the second half on their first shot-on-goal of the period. Defender Colie Martin connected with Samantha Verduzco for the second time this season to produce a goal from a Martin run down the left sideline. The sophomore outside back served the ball to the top of the 18-yard box in order to set up Verduzco's shot to the far, right post.

The Sharks only managed one more shot in the final 23 minutes after Verduzco's strike.

The Eagles will host a second PacWest school from Hawaii on Saturday. Biola matches up with the Chaminade Silverswords with opening whistle set for 4:00 p.m.
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