LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Monday's overtime victory over Hawaii Pacific was all about overcoming adversity for the Biola Eagles. Head Coach Todd Elkins' group went down a goal early in the first half, were charged with three cautions in the second and went into extra time without any victories outside of regulation in 2019. 

But all that went by the wayside when Jonathan Serrano drilled the game-winning goal past the Hawaii Pacific keeper after a long throw from Hunter Finnegan. The Eagles get back in the win column and move two points clear of Concordia for fourth place. Biola's win also makes Thursday's match with Chaminade a battle for third place since BU is one point behind the Silverswords, who lost 9-1 to Point Loma on Monday.

Several key aspects of the match made things feel a bit unfamiliar and backwards. Where Biola has scored so many early goals this season, it was HPU on Monday that netted the first goal in the 14th minute with a through ball from Jair Espinoza that was scored by Makana Srivongsana. Goalkeeper JD Gunn stepped up bigtime in the second half to keep the Eagles in it. But in the meantime, Gunn's teammates picked him up in the first period with an equalizer at the 33-minute mark. 

The Eagles created a corner kick opportunity at that point, with Leo Thompson bending the ball to the far right post and the area of Finnegan. Finnegan pushed the ball back in front of the goal mouth and MacDonald converted an acrobatic heel kick with is back toward goal to send the ball over the goal line. 

The rest of regulation was a back-and-forth tug of war without much progress. MacDonald took several dangerous shots in the second half that stayed just wide of the posts and Gunn made several diving stops on Sharks shots that neutralized HPU's best opportunities. The teams combined for 16 shots in the second half but needed to go to extra time to search for the deciding goal. 

Serrano's shot would be the only chance of the overtime period and finally made things feel familiar again, given Biola Men's Soccer's recent history with Hawaii Pacific. The Eagles are now 3-0 over the last three matches against the Sharks and have now won back-to-back overtime matches against HPU at Al Barbour Field. Centerback Jake Munivez headed home the golden goal in 2017 toward the very same frame that embraced Serrano's goal on Monday. 

The Eagles will host Chaminade on Thursday at 7 p.m.