LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola Men's Soccer minimized its mistakes and played staunch defense on Saturday to earn a 1-1 tie with No. 18 Fort Hays State. The draw keeps Biola's undefeated record at home against ranked opponents in its NCAA DII era, as the Eagles also tied No. 4 UC San Diego in their only other matchup against a ranked team at Al Barbour Field last season.
Despite going through the first half without taking a shot of any kind, the Eagles came alive when they needed it most and responded to the Tigers' goal latae in the second half with their own strike on a dead ball just 85 seconds later.
Following a set piece goal from FHSU's Sergio Villalba, Biola surged right back by inducing a foul from the visiting team and eventually creating their first corner kick of the match. Captain Kousei Mattox put the ball on a dime at the far-right corner of the six-yard area, right where forward-turned-centerback Alejandro Pelayo was set to leap for a header that beat the Tigers' keeper.
It was Pelayo's first goal of the season and a fitter stamp on the match for the senior defender. Pelayo worked all match halt the waves of attackers from Fort Hays State and prevent them from getting clean looks at frame. All four members of the Eagles' backline played at least 96 minutes in the match, with centerbacks Pelayo and
Jake Munivez going the distance of 110 minutes to limit the Tigers to just three shots-on-goal.
Fort Hays State only took one shot-on-goal during the final 65 minutes of action, but keeper Luis Rodriguez' activity still contributed to Biola's efforts to stay even. Rodriguez did a fine job of stepping off his line when the Tigers would send passes forward to pick up the ball and slow the pace down for Biola. Like his counterpart, Fernando Pina, Rodriguez finished with one goal allowed and two saves.
The Eagles will look to next week to earn their third win after neither side was able to create a dangerous scoring chance in overtime. Biola will move one step within the start of its conference season next week as it takes on Point Loma on Wednesday and Concordia on Saturday in matches that do not count towards PacWest records.
