LA MIRADA, Calif. ---

LAST WEEK: L at UC San Diego, 0-1; L at CSU San Marcos, 2-3 (OT). (0-2 weekly record; 0-2 overall record)

THIS WEEK: vs. CSU San Bernardino (1-1) - at home Saturday Sept. 8 at 7:00 p.m.

MULTIMEDIA: Live video and live stats will be available at portal.stretchinternet.com/biola. Fans can send an email shoutout (to be read on air) during the match at eaglesbroadcast@gmail.com.

BIOLA (0-2) vs. CSU San Bernardino (1-1): Saturday Sept. 8 at 7:00 p.m. \\ Live Stats \\ Live Video
Head Coach Todd Elkins' team has a chance to turn around a few trends on Saturday when it returns to Al Barbour Field for its first home match of the 2018 season. The Eagles started the season with a pair of tough losses on the road despite playing with resilience and overcoming the majority of what the opposing UC San Diego and CSU San Marcos offenses threw at them. They found a jolt of energy in their last match after Leo Thompson scored two second-half goals for Biola and the Eagles will hope to ride that momentum into the match with the Coyotes. A win against CSU San Bernardino has been a long time coming for Biola, as the home team has lost eight-straight against the Coyotes and has not defeated them since 1984. Dave McLeish's 1984 team defeated CSUSB 1-0 at home that year and then went on to lose to UC Berkeley four days later. That year Biola also played BYU, UC Irvine and UCLA, among other now-NCAA DI programs, and managed a 1-1 tie against BYU on Sept. 1.  

ABOUT LAST WEEK:
The Eagles fell prey to a few unfortunate breaks in their first two matches of the year. The Biola defense cleared eight first-half corner kicks from the UC San Diego Tritons last Thursday and limited the home team to just three shots on goal. But one last corner in the first half for the Tritons resulted in the only goal of the match and left the Eagles without any reference point in their record to show how well they played. Biola found it's scoring rhythm on Saturday, using two breaks down the left sideline to set up Leo Thompson for two second-half goals that erased a 0-2 halftime deficit. A goal from the Cougars late in the first overtime ended Biola's hopes of stealing a victory on the road, but seeing Thompson score twice is a good sign for Biola going forward into the rest of its season. In a 2017 season during which goals were at a premium for Biola, the Eagles only had two matches in which a forward scored multiple goals. Then senior Keaton Kerr did it twice in two wins for Biola, so getting forwards like Thompson and company to repeat that feat with more regularity should set the Eagles up to be on the winning end of things more often than not this season.

MATCH MUSINGS:
Headed into this Saturday's matchup with CSU San Bernardino, the Eagles would do well to focus on playing their own game and continuing to feed their serial scorer in Thompson. The Coyotes figure to bring a physical brand of soccer to Al Barbour Field on Saturday after 11 cards were handed out in their 4-1 win over Montana State Billings on Sept. 1. CSU San Bernardino was still able to win the match despite having a forward sent off in the 34th minute and receiving three other cautions, leading one to believe that the Coyotes actually thrive when they play with a physical edge. Biola will have to focus on keeping in its system and holding its ground on Saturday to avoid being lured into CSUSB's game. But it would also behoove the Eagles to allow Thompson to do his work on the ball since he's coming off a 2017 season with Thomas University in which he scored six goals in the first five matches of the season. That start propelled Thompson to an All- Sun Conference recognition.

HOME SWEET HOME:
Biola will play its next four matches at Al Barbour Field, where it will hope to continue its long-standing history of success at home and create some momentum headed into conference play. The Eagles have not had a losing record at home since 2001 and rattled off five wins in a six-match stretch a home in 2017 to guarantee a .500 record.