LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola Men's Soccer played its first overtime match of the season on Wednesday night, playing Cal State Dominguez Hills to a scoreless draw despite having several dangerous looks at goal.
The Eagles ultimately lost the possession battle at Al Barbour Field, holding the ball for 43 percent of the 110 minutes. But the Biola backline also limited the Toros to one shot on goal for the entire duration of the match, with goalkeeper JD Gunn making an easy save in the 108th minute to keep his clean sheet.
After Wednesday's scoreless tie and last week's shutout of Cal State San Marcos, Head Coach Todd Elkins' group has now prevented opponents from scoring any goals at Al Barbour Field for over 200 consecutive minutes. Cal State Dominguez Hills still escapes Al Barbour with an undefeated all-time record against Biola at 7-0-2. But this was the first meeting between the teams since 1993.Â
Biola took a total of 15 shots with four shots on goal that all came in the second half. Freshman Alex Lugo showed a spark early in the first half with a blast from 23 yards out that narrowly cleared the crossbar for a goal kick. But the freshman midfielder's shot was the most powerful chance of the night in the 15th minute as he played a season-high 73 minutes in his second-straight start for Biola.
Coming off his first goal of the season at UC San Diego last Saturday, Leo Thompson had his chance about 10 minutes after Lugo with a run through the Toros' backline that left him all alone. Unfortunately, the initial touch forward was too strong for Thompson, and he had to keep the ball away from the keeper by pushing it so close to the sideline that the shooting angle became too steep for a solid strike.
In the second half, Dylan Memory attacked the goal with pace and room to set up a pass to the center of the box where he saw teammates waiting. It just so happened that the Toros centerback giving chase found himself in a great position to challenge Chad Sincliar's shot immediately and prevented the Servite High School-alumni from putting enough power on his kick.
Outside of the shot on goal that was saved by Gunn, the Toros' best chance was a great combination near the beginning of the second overtime that opened up the left post. Gunn found himself unable to cover the opening at the far post quickly enough in the 102nd minute, but the CSUDH player was unable to take a pure shot and the ball harmlessly sliced for an Eagles' goal kick.Â
Biola's next match will be its last of the season against a non-PacWest opponent. The Eagles travel to Cal State LA on Saturday to face the No. 7 Golden Eagles at 7 p.m. Â
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