LA MIRADA, Calif. --- For a team that played a match just 48 hours beforehand, Biola look very strong and sharp on Monday. The Eagles' scored two second-half goals and the defense took its game up another notch to defeat the Hawai'i-Hilo Vulcans, 2-0.
 

The win pushes the Eagles (9-2-1, 5-2-1 PacWest) into third place in the PacWest table before the rest of the conference plays on Thursday. The Vulcans have a long trip to St. George, Utah ahead of them after they fall to 3-4-1 in the conference.
 

"It was a great win against a very good opponent," said Head Coach Erin Brunelle. "It started off a bit slow. But as we started to move the ball more and do the work to make Hilo have to chase it, then we started to make more and more of the game into control."

Biola came out with a lot of pressure to begin the match in an attempt to strike first. The Eagles took four shots within the first 10:23 after the opening whistle and Sarah Jeffries took four shots all by herself by the 22nd minute.

The home team's best chances came from Ashley Ramirez in the 10th minute and Hali Oakes in the 25th. Both shots got to much of the woodwork for the Eagles' liking, as Ramirez shot was pushed onto and over the frame by keeper Jenna Hufford while Oakes hit the crossbar squarely on a punt from distance.

The Vulcans manufactured an initial response with shots of their own, but it quickly became clear that they efforts needed to focus on keeping the Eagles at bay. Hawai'i-Hilo did not attempt a shot for the latter 32 minutes of the first half and had no shots-on-goal but did take a tie into the 15-minute break.
Biola's primary adjustment was extending its passing combination wider in the second half to send its players toward the corner flags.

In the 60th minute, outside back Bri Mikalson took all the space she was offered down the right sideline and beat a challenger one-on-one before launching the ball toward goal. Jeffries got ahead of the scrum by a step and flicked the ball past Hufford for the Eagles' first goal. Jeffries third goal of the season was well-deserved after she worked to take a game-high seven shots on Monday. That is the highest shot total in a match for any Eagle this season.

Sixteen minutes later the Eagles added a second goal that caused smiles all along the Biola sideline. Samantha Verduzco executed a run down the sideline to perfection and served the ball into her teammate breaking for the six-yard box. The midfielder on the end of the ball was senior captain Janae Megorden, who scored her first goal of the season by depositing the ball inside the left post on her second touch.

"[Sam] did well and was super calm in that instance," said Brunelle. "And for Janae to be on the end of it and to get on the stat sheet in that way for all of the work that she's done is tremendous. We're super pumped for her."

The Eagles' defense held strong the rest of the way and limited UHH to just nine shots in the match. Christian Rodriguez made only one save on Monday, but it was a beauty. Rodriguez stopped a quick shot from Jaimie Salas in the 77th minute by taking two steps and diving to her left for the stop.

Biola now gets the chance to record its first road win with its next match. The Eagles travel to Concordia-Irvine on Saturday for a match that begins at 1:30 p.m.