Box Score

Top-seeded Fresno Pacific was eliminated from the GSAC tournament on Saturday as #5-seed Biola scored a goal off a corner kick with just six minutes left in regulation to break a scoreless tie.

The 84th-minute goal by Collins Egbe sent the Eagles (12-5-2) to the GSAC championship match next Saturday against #3-seed Concordia.

The Sunbirds (12-6) had numerous chances, especially in the second half, but were unable to capitalize and will likely see their season come to an end. FPU will hold out hope for an at-large bid to the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round, but with the way the Sunbirds have received little respect from the rankings all season, an at-large bid is very unlikely.

It was just the second time this season that FPU's high-octane offense had been held scoreless as Biola played a very strong game defensively before getting the right bounce on Marco Ruvalcaba's corner that hit the ground before being kicked in by Egbe.

"It's disheartening," said coach Jaime Ramirez afterward. "It's a bittersweet ending to a season that saw such a good response from these guys, the way they came back and won the GSAC."

The Sunbirds really limited the Eagles' chances at getting a good shot at the goal, limiting Biola's main strikers Ruvalcaba and Zach Bautista to virtually no attack chances, meaning the Eagles would have by another means. Unfortunately for FPU, all it took was a corner kick to end an otherwise fantastic season.

Guilherme Machado and Adrian Arias in particular did a phenomenal job on defense to limit the Eagles all day.

The Sunbirds had some very good chances earlier in the second half, the best of which came when Rodrigo Vianna's hard shot barely hit the bottom of the crossbar and bounced back into play. Guillermo Talancon immediately put a header on it, but Biola keeper Aaron Fenlason made a good jumping save.

Paul Islas would have multiple chances in the second half, beating the defense for a couple of open looks but his shots went just wide as he tried to find a way to get the ball around Fenlason. It was just the second time this season that Islas had not contributed to a goal.

Though it was a bitter note to end on in FPU's time in the GSAC, the Sunbirds will have a ton of talent coming back next season as the team will play its first season in the NCAA's Pacific West Conference. The team loses just one starter, Machado, and one key player off the bench, Michael Kuehter, but will have a strong cast returning led by Islas.