LA MIRADA, Calif. — For the very first time during this Western Water Polo Association season an opponent has forced a chink in the armor of Biola Women's Water Polo. The CSU East Bay Pioneers, last year's WWPA runner-up spoiled the Biola home opener Friday by scoring the game's final three goals to win 11-8.

The match began as a bit of a sprint as the two teams combined for eight goals in the first period. With CSUEB leading 5-3 following the first frame it seemed like the two teams were destined to match theory 35-goal shootout from two weeks ago up in Hayward. 

The two sides traded tallies to begin the game, with an Ava LoBue goal five minutes in making it an exciting 3-3 start. Biola was held scoreless over the last three minutes of that first period though as the Pioneers' Hope Grantham scored back-to-back goals to make it 5-3. 

Grantham would ultimately end as the game's leading scorer with four goals in this one. Her early production would prove pivotal as that first quarter lead would just about match the differential at the end of the contest.

Late in the second half it was Grantham again who provided her team with their largest lead of the day when she netted the Pioneers' eight score at the 2:26 mark and made it 8-5. She went back-to-back with Jordan Jarandson to break another streak of the two teams trading single goals.

Just about two minutes after the Grantham goal, Maria Roldan Gonzalez notched her third goal of the first half to bring BU back within two, which is where things would rest at halftime (8-6). That goal from Roldan Gonzalez came on the power play and was assisted by Koutney Pyle.

Pyle piled on the assists in this contest. She came into the game as the leading goal scorer in the conference, but had just six assists to this point. Her five dimes in this contest nearly doubled that total and played a big role in Biola's ability to keep it close.

The Eagles came out of halftime and scored the first two goals in the third period to tie the game at eight and do all their could to lean up against the pendulum of momentum. Unfortunately for the home faithful, CSUEB managed to pull ahead 9-8 on the very next possession as Elise Whitworth scored her first of two goals.

The Pioneers held Biola without a goal in the fourth period while tallying two more of their own to put this one to rest and get within a half-game in the WWPA West standings. The Eagles fall to 3-1 in league while CSUEB moves to 2-1. 

Biola came up against a nearly unstoppable force in CSUEB's Daniela Passoni. The Eagles managed 36 shots in this game, but Passoni's 14 saves made it difficult for them to keep up with the scoring, especially late in the second half.

The conference's leading goalkeeper, and South African Olympian made all the difference in picking up the win for her team.

Biola had advantages in sprints and a big advantage in exclusions drawn, but the shooting and passing accuracy was not quite where it needed to be to get a win in this one. Along with Pyle's five assists and Roldan Gonzalez's hat trick, Spadt and Lizzy Birch also had multi-point games. Rachel scored twice and Lizzy dropped in one goal and one assist.

The Eagles are now in the "homestand" part of their season, with just three regular season matches left and all of those happening at home at SPLASH! Up next is an afternoon match against No. 10 UC Santa Barbara (15-8) on Friday, April 7.