February 11, 2012 – The Biola men’s lacrosse team started their 2012 campaign with a close 7-8 loss at the hands of Claremont. The Eagles were unable to get past Claremont’s goalie for the tying goal, despite having three chances in the final 30 seconds. Freshman midfielder Matt Young let loose a hard left-handed shot that sailed wide, followed by a bounce shot from senior midfielder Jon McMahan that narrowly missed crossing the goal line, even with last second help from senior midfielder David Sigley.

Both teams came out of the gates strong, combining for eight goals in the first quarter, which ended in a 4-4 tie. As both teams settled into the second quarter, the scoring slowed, with only one goal in the second. Claremont took a small 5-4 lead into halftime.

Biola found their stride after halftime, attacking the Claremont defense for three goals. Claremont managed to keep the game tied at 7-7 with two goals of their own in the third. The final quarter played much like the second, with Biola’s defense holding Claremont to only one goal. That one goal margin was enough to preserve Claremont’s second win of the 2012 season, 7-8 over Biola.

Biola’s scoring was lead by junior attackman Jeff Clark who scored twice. Senior attackman Adam Kingston, in his first game back with Biola after a season with Adams State College, scored once and tallied two assists. Senior attackman Marc Morgan chipped in with a goal and an assist. Sigley ended the day with one goal and one assist as well, his assist coming on McMahan’s goal in the third. Junior midfielder JT Moranski drew first blood in the contest, and ended with one goal.

Senior goalie Sean Lane recorded 10 saves in his first game at goalie. Lane is a converted defenseman, moving to goalie to fill the hole left by Jimmy Perdomo-Hazen after he transferred. Junior midfielder Joel Williams won five out of his 10 face-off attempts, and Young won four out of his nine attempts.

The Eagles next travel to the University of Redlands on Saturday, February 18, to take on the Bulldogs at 1:00 pm. The following day finds Biola back on the road, this time to face SLC conference foe Cal Lutheran. The Eagles face-off against the Kingsmen at 2:00 pm on February 19 in their first conference game of 2012.

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