FULLERTON, Calif.--- The Biola men's water polo team went toe-to-toe with nationally-ranked No. 18 Brown on Friday morning, falling just short in an 8-7 battle at the Titans Aquatics Center.
Neither team led by more than one goal throughout the match, with the two sides trading scores and momentum across all four quarters.
Brown struck first on a five-meter penalty shot, but Biola answered before the opening quarter was through. Landon Heuer found the back of the cage off a feed from Kyle Seifen before Jayden Rose added another off an assist from Kevin Slack to send the Eagles into the second quarter tied 2-2.
Biola carried that momentum into the second. Seifen tied the match at 3-3 before Micah Hernandez connected on a power play off a Rose assist to give the Eagles their first lead of the morning, 4-3.
Goalkeeper Igor Pinheiro came up with a key stop midway through the quarter, denying Brown on a five-meter penalty attempt to preserve the advantage. The Bears eventually answered with 1:02 remaining, sending the teams into halftime tied 4-4.
The third quarter tightened up defensively. Brown moved ahead 5-4 before Slack answered off a feed from Jake Burns to pull Biola even. The Bears struck again with one second remaining in the period to take a 6-5 lead into the fourth.
Biola continued to respond in the final frame. Seifen scored his second goal of the match with 6:21 remaining to tie things at 6-6. Brown answered just 20 seconds later, but Aiden Ortiz found the back of the cage off an assist from Isaac Demski to even the score once again at 7-7.
With two minutes remaining, Pinheiro delivered another big moment in goal, turning away his second five-meter penalty attempt of the match to keep the Eagles tied with Brown.
The Bears eventually found the deciding goal with 1:24 remaining, and Biola was unable to find the equalizer before the final whistle.
Pinheiro anchored the Eagles defensively with nine saves across all 32 minutes, including the two five-meter penalty stops.
Seifen led Biola with two goals and an assist. Rose and Slack each finished with a goal and an assist, while Heuer, Hernandez and Ortiz also found the back of the cage.
Biola outshot Brown 30-27 in the narrow loss, continuing to create opportunities throughout the match against the nationally-ranked Bears.
The Eagles moved to 3-6 on the season and play next at 2 p.m. against California Lutheran.
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