SAN FRANCISCO — Biola earned its seventh PacWest win of the season on Thursday by scoring in the seventh minute against Academy of Art and holding that lead for the remainder of the match.
Keaton Kerr scored twice and
Jack Cybulski contributed his third goal of the season for insurance in the 3-1 victory.
The Eagles climbed into the driver's seat in the seventh minute when
Hernan Sotelo sent a leading ball forward to the top of the keeper's box. Senior forward
Keaton Kerr beat his mark to the spot and to get on the end of the ball and then poked the ball past a charging keeper to put Biola on top.
Kerr's goal marked the fourth time in the last five matches that the Eagles scored the opening goal and rewarded Sotelo with the first of three assists he would collect in the match.
After the early goal, Bola hunkered down and focused on limiting the Urban Knight's attack for the rest of the half. Academy of Art only took one shot in the first 45 minutes of play, a header from Alexander Tombach in the 23rd minutes, and attempted just one corner kick.
Play started to open up a bit more in the second half with three goals and three cautions. Kerr scored what would be the game-winner in the 52nd minute on a line drive shot from 20 yards out, only for AAU to bring the deficit back to one goal just three minutes later.
The Eagles defense stood tall in the aftermath of the response goal, prohibiting the home team from taking any more shots until
Jack Cybulski scored his third goal of the season in the 65th minute.
Cybulski scored after he got on the end of a Sotelo throw that was helped along by the head of senior defender
Sammy McKay. McKay pushed the ball toward the far right post and away from the AAU keeper, giving the Cybulski all the room he needed to take two strides and head the ball home.
The Urban Knights took four shots and forced
Igor Puglia to make one save during the final 25 minutes of play. But Head Coach
Todd Elkins' team held on for the victory and improved to 3-0 when it scores three goals or more in a match.
After taking Friday to recover and prepare, the Eagles will play their final regular season match on Saturday against Holy Names. The opening whistle is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
