LA MIRADA, Calif. --- With five regular season matches under their belt, the Biola Eagles turn their attention toward PacWest opponents this week with the start of non-conference matchups against in-pod peers. Head Coach Erin Brunelle's group will head back out on the road for the fourth time in the last five matches to face 3-2 Point Loma for a 2 p.m. start on Saturday afternoon. And in addition to a first-hand experience of the Sea Lions, the Eagles also might squeeze a peek at Azusa Pacific and Concordia since both teams will also be playing PacWest opponents in non-conference matchups this week: APU faces Point Loma in Azusa on Thursday night before heading to Irvine on Saturday to meet Concordia for a 1 p.m. start. 

While having some tape and an initial understanding of the other teams in the So Cal pod may be helpful, it's definitely more worthwhile for the Eagles to focus on what has made them so hard to beat over the past two matches. Biola's efforts in defense have been excellent over the past 200-minutes plus, with midfielders that are reliably slowing the ball in the middle part of the field and with a backline that has met opposing attackers with impressive strength and speed. Riding on the momentum of back-to-back shutouts, the Eagles will already be confident heading into Saturday. But posting another against the defending PacWest champion would mean a lot more than simple icing on top. 

BIOLA (1-3-1) at Point Loma (3-2): Saturday, Sep. 28 at 2 p.m. \\ Live Stats \\ Live Video

Admittedly, Point Loma doesn't have the same eye-poping statistics that it did in the early parts of 2018. While last year's team only conceded three goals over its first 10 matches while scoring 17, Point Loma has needed the assistance of two own goals from its opponents to have a positive goal differential this year: the Sea Lions have a total of seven goals for and six against headed into their matchup with Azusa Pacific on Thursday. But those goals have come at the best times since Point Loma has scored multiple goals in three matches this season and won on all three occasions. 

Point Loma also shares two common opponents from the non-conference schedule this season, but not much can be determined from those results besides the thought that Saturday's meeting should be close. The Sea Lions defeated Cal State LA 2-1 in Los Angeles with the Golden Eagles surrendering two own goals on September 14 but lost to Seattle Pacific in San Diego by a score of 2-1 in overtime five days later. 

PacWest Player of the Year Julia Glaser has scored two of the Sea Lions' goals, and one via penalty kick, so far this year after scoring 14 times in 19 matches last year. Point Loma also returns 2018's Goalkeeper of the Year, Emma Hinson, and three other All-PacWest selections: Abbey Teagle, Abbey Swanson and Lauren O'Malley. All five of those women were also selected for the Preseason All-PacWest team. 

PLNU charges $10 for general admission to their soccer matches and tickets can be purchased in advance through the PLNU Athletics Website. Directions to the soccer field can be found on their facility page.