LA MIRADA, Calif. --- For the second time during 2021 Biola Men's Water Polo had the chance to go against its rival Eagles from that school out in Irvine, Concordia. For the second time, the green and gold Eagles got the best of the Eagles in black and red. CUI poured in 11 goals to Biola's four to leave Splash! with a seven-goal victory.
The last time against CUI Biola struggled early, falling behind 4-1 before the first period break. This time, though, the two teams were evenly matched through the full first period.
Biola was actually the first team with a solid chance to score when Maxwell Osborn had a penalty shot opportunity just about six-and-a-half minutes into a scoreless game. Unfortunately for BU, the penalty effort wasn't converted and the visiting team used the sway in momentum to cash in on their next possession.
Even still, a 1-0 deficit was encouraging to Head Coach
Rick Nordell's group, which felt like the steadier side for most of that first period. However, the quarter break was a time when CUI made some significant adjustments to come out and dominate the early stages of period two.
Dreason Berry's side scored three goals in the first three minutes to grab hold of the game at 4-0. Biola showed a sign of life in the game's 13th minute when Nolan Rapp converted a power play goal to stop the bleeding.
The trouble for Biola was offensive turnovers. The team had a hard time not catching the eyes of the referee in inopportune moments and gave the ball up eight times throughout the contest.
Each team would record one more goal in the second period, sending them into the side switch with Concordia holding onto a 5-2 lead.
Kenny Wulf scored once to open things up in the third and have Biola salivating at a chance to flip the script down by just two. Unfortunately, there was only one more Biola score for the rest of the ball game, which also came from Wulf on a penalty shot in the fourth. CUI managed its six second-half goals from six different players to put the game to bed.
The win was the first for CUI during this Western Water Polo Association season. The Eagles improved to 7-12 overall and 1-4 in league play. Biola closes out its WWPA regular season 0-8 in conference.
Coach Nordell and his team have just one more quick road trip left in the inaugural regular season. The Eagles will travel to Cal Lutheran on Friday and have a 10 a.m. game against Ottawa (Ariz.) before a 1 p.m. match at the hosts.
