Despite outshooting visiting Biola and six saves from keeper Eric Laboffe, the Sea Lions lost Saturday afternoon, 1-0. It was the fourth GSAC match in a row without a win for PLNU which fell to 3-9-1 overall, 2-6-1 versus conference opposition.
The NAIA No. 11-ranked Eagles improved to 11-2-1 overall with the win, 6-1-1 GSAC.
Zach Bautista scored the lone goal of the game in the 19th minute. The score came after the Sea Lions were whistled for a foul just a few feet outside the box. Biola's Tony Montalvo took the free kick and pushed it back to Abraham Gomez who then tapped it to Bautista who hammered the ball through the PLNU wall and past diving keeper Eric Leboffe.
The rest of the match would be one of frustration for both offenses. The two squads combined to take 32 shots (17 from PLNU, 15 from BU) with the Eagles owning a slim 7-6 edge on shots on goal.
Each keeper turned back six shots on goal and each had outstanding saves. Aaron Fenalson made at least three highlight diving stops and Laboffe reached up to slap out a few balls out that were headed into the net.
The refs handed out five yellow cards to Biola.
PLNU is sitting in ninth place in the GSAC standings, just behind California Baptist. Only eight teams will qualify for the conference playoffs. The Sea Lions have one more regular season contest on the schedule when they host Fresno Pacific at 1:30 pm Saturday, October 31.
