LA MIRADA, Calif. --- The 60th season of Biola Men's Soccer will begin in just over a month with excitement being one of the key themes as the Eagles will be NCAA postseason eligible for the first time. The 2019 slate will offer Head Coach Todd Elkins' side 10 home matches, 11 PacWest contests and an entire regular season schedule played in California. 

The Eagles will begin getting up to game speed in early August when they partner with the So. Cal Seahorses soccer ministry for a short-term mission trip to Japan from August 5-20. Biola Men's Soccer will partner with Missionary Athletes International and Paul Gizzi, a dear friend of both Biola soccer programs, to share the gospel through the platform of soccer and the personal interactions that soccer clinics provide.

More information on the trip is available at https://www.seahorsesoccer.com/japan.

Following their return to the United States, the Eagles will play a single scrimmage at Occidental College on August 24 and then jump into countable matches with a non-conference meeting with Point Loma in San Diego on September 5. Following that match, the Eagles will open up their home schedule at Al Barbour Field with matches against Northwest Nazarene (Sept.7), who Biola defeated 3-2 last season, and CSU San Marcos (Sept. 11), who will matchup with the Eagles for the 11th-straight year.

All told, the Eagles' non-conference schedule includes four matches against CCAA opponents, two matches against PacWest peers (Point Loma and Concordia), and one GNAC foe in Northwest Nazarene. 

Biola's conference slate does not have them going to Hawaii this year. That may serve Head Coach Todd Elkins' group well since the Eagles went 7-2 at home in 2016, the last season the regular season schedule kept them exclusively in California. True roadtrips bookend the PacWest schedule, with Biola headed to Northern California to play Holy Names and Dominican on October 10 and 12, respectively, and later driving to Fresno Pacific to conclude the season on November 16. 

The Eagles will have five-straight home matches in the last two weeks of October. They host all three Hawaii schools in a six-day stretch before clashing with Azusa Pacific on November 5 for the third Cornerstone Cup match. It figures to be a very intriguing match, as the programs split the first two meetings with victories on the other's home turf and because the result may help to shake out the top of the PacWest table if Biola gets a strong start to conference play.

Depending particularly on Biola's results in its November matches against APU, Concordia, Point Loma and Fresno Pacific, Elkins' group may find itself in play for a potential spot in the NCAA West Regional if they can stay at the top of the standings. Regional play would take place from November 22 to November 24. 

As always, all home games will be streamed live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/biola/. For more information on Biola Men's Soccer and to view the full schedule, visit https://athletics.biola.edu/index.aspx?path=msoc.