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2
Biola BU (9-6-4, 5-2-2)
3
Winner CUI CUI (12-2-5, 7-1-1)
Biola BU
(9-6-4, 5-2-2)
2
Final
3
CUI CUI
(12-2-5, 7-1-1)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Biola BU 1 1 2
CUI CUI 1 2 3
Briley on the ball
Aaron Rollins

Game Recap: Women's Soccer |

Right Where We Belong

Biola dominates for much of the match before falling to CUI in wild fashion late.

IRVINE, Calif. — For more than 85 minutes Friday afternoon, Biola Women's Soccer looked every bit like a team ready to extend the greatest NCAA Division II season in program history. 

Then, in a span of less than five minutes, everything changed.

Seventh-seeded Biola carried a 2-1 lead over No. 2 seed Concordia University Irvine into the closing stages of its first-ever NCAA Division II Championship appearance, only to see CUI equalize after the Eagles were reduced to 10 players and then win the match on a penalty kick with two seconds remaining. It was a crushing 3-2 final score, which should not take away from anything this team has accomplished in 2026. The Eagles' performance, result notwithstanding, proved they belong among the best in the West.

The loss ends Biola's historic season at 9-6-4.

The Eagles struck first before Concordia answered to make it 1-1, but Biola regained the advantage and held its 2-1 edge deep into the second half. For a team making its NCAA postseason debut against a program accustomed to playing in November, Head Coach Brett Croft's group spent the overwhelming majority of the afternoon showing it belonged.

It was the usual suspects putting the ball into the back of the net with Briley Phelps notching the opener and then Hayden Gehring tallying the Eagles' second.

Then came the cruel turn.

Inside the final five minutes, Biola was issued a second yellow card, forcing the Eagles to finish with 10 players. Concordia immediately capitalized, scoring on the ensuing free kick to suddenly make it 2-2.

Even then, overtime appeared imminent as another goal in such quick succession was unfathomable.

With two seconds left, however, a handball was whistled at the edge of the penalty area. Concordia was awarded a penalty kick and converted it to take its first lead of the match at the last possible moment.

Biola still attempted one final shot from near midfield after the restart, but time expired before the Eagles could manufacture one more miracle.

The ending carried a particularly painful bit of irony.

Just six days earlier, Biola and Concordia played 110 scoreless minutes in the PacWest Championship match, before the Eagles defeated CUI 5-4 in penalty kicks to capture the first PacWest Championship in program history. Friday, it was a penalty kick at the opposite end that brought Biola's season to an end.

That result does little to diminish what preceded it.

The season also produced one of the finest individual campaigns in program history from Phelps. The senior was named the PacWest Player of the Year, First Team All-PacWest and Most Outstanding Player of the PacWest Championships. She finished 2026 with 13 goals, seven assists and 33 points, setting Biola's NCAA Division II-era single-season records for goals and points. Her 98 shots also established a new single-season record, while her four-goal, eight-point performance against Westmont set two more single-game marks.

Phelps was one of six Eagles to earn All-PacWest recognition, while Robinson was named the PacWest Championship's Most Outstanding Defender after anchoring Biola through its title run.

A season that began with Biola searching for its place among the West Region's best ended with the Eagles two seconds away from another overtime against the region's No. 2 seed.

The finish was devastating, but only because, first, the season was historic.
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Scoring Summary

Scoring Summary
Scoring Team Scoring Play
31:52
BU Briley Phelps (13)
Assisted By: Jade Alverio , Hayden Gehring
GOAL by BU Phelps, Briley Assist by Alverio, Jade and Gehring, Hayden.
34:53
CUI Camryn Flores (1)
GOAL by CUI Flores, Camryn.
47:10
BU Hayden Gehring (5)
Assisted By: Briley Phelps
GOAL by BU Gehring, Hayden Assist by Phelps, Briley.
86:37
CUI Sloane De Torres (2)
GOAL by CUI De Torres, Sloane.
89:58
CUI Ashley Grubert (12)
CUI Ashley Grubert PENALTY KICK GOAL.

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