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Kousei Mattox celebrates after scoring the game-winning goal
George Rodriguez
2
Northwest Nazarene NNU-M (0-4-1)
3
Winner Biola University BU-MS (2-2-0)
Northwest Nazarene NNU-M
(0-4-1)
2
Final
3
Biola University BU-MS
(2-2-0)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Northwest Nazarene NNU-M 1 1 2
Biola University BU-MS 1 2 3

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

Captain Comes Up Clutch

Captain Kousei Mattox delivers Biola’s second win in a row with a goal in the 89th minute.

LA MIRADA, Calif. --- The Eagles will look back on Thursday's match with Northwest Nazarene and probably say they should have played cleaner. But boy did they step up to the drama of a back-and-forth match at Al Barbour Field to prevail with a 3-2 victory in the closing moments.

Biola benefited from three impressive displays of goal scoring prowess to clip the Nighthawks, getting go-ahead goals from Leo Thompson in the first half and Gilbert Sotelo in the second before Mattox added his finishing touches. And the Eagles dominated the box score in the second half for the second-straight match, taking 11 shots in the latter 45 minutes while limiting Northwest Nazarene to three.

Had it not been for a few mistakes on defense, the Eagles might have run away with this match instead of snatching it in the closing moments. But Head Coach Todd Elkins is confident his team will be able to learn from those moments and correct them going forward.

"We made it tougher than it needed to be, not to discount the pressure Northwest Nazarene put on us before those goals," said Elkins. "We should have dealt with [the own goal and the penalty] better than we did. But it was a good learning experience for our back four on the ball."

By the time NNU found itself even with Biola in the 26th minute, Leo Thompson and the Eagles had already jumped out on the front foot and seemed to be playing downhill. Thompson's teammates made a deliberate effort to serve him the ball early in the match, sending the ball forward for him to begin carving the visiting defense. And the frequent opportunities seemed to help the Englishman get into the flow of the match because he put the Eagles on the board just 11 minutes in with his third goal of the season.

The strike came off a lovely lob from midfielder Aaron Hontucan that carried over the NNU defense and led Thompson into space on the left side of the 18-yard area. Thompson then beat the keeper to the far-right post and became the PacWest leader in goals against NCAA DII opponents with three so far through four matches.

After the halftime break, the Eagles immediately came out on the offensive and regained their lead. After drawing a foul near the left sideline in the 47th minute, Mattox served the ball to the other sideline, where it eventually landed at the feel of Gilbert Sotelo with his back to the goal. Initially the senior midfielder took a step to his right to try to create space, but he found a better opening after spinning to his left and then took a touch before drilling the ball to the upper-left corner of the frame for his first collegiate goal with Biola.

Although the lead would only last for seven minutes, the Eagles had made a statement they would back the rest of the half. Northwest Nazarene only took one shot after scoring on its penalty kick while the Eagles took seven shots and five corners in the same span.

Then the game-winner finally game in the 89th minute when Thompson and Mattox executed a clinical give-and-go above the keeper's area that set Mattox to shoot with his left foot and send it past the keeper. It was Mattox' third game-winning goal of his career.

Biola will have one day of rest before returning to Al Barbour Field in pursuit of their third-straight win. The Eagles will face No. 18 Fort Hays State, who was on the losing end of a goal in the 88th minute at Point Loma on Thursday.
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