Feb. 21-22, 2014 – The Biola University Eagles faced their toughest opponent over the weekend: exhaustion. Playing three games in a 24-hour spanned tested the Eagles in a way they’ve never been tested before. The weekend trip to Flagstaff, AZ marked the first time the team has traveled out of the Pacific time zone, and the first time they’ve faced three opponents over two days.

After arriving in Flagstaff, Biola hit the field to take on the University of Northern Colorado Bears in their first game of the weekend. After playing to a 2-2 draw after one quarter, the Eagles were able to edge the Bears by one in the second, taking a 6-5 lead into halftime.

The halftime adjustments made by UNC played to their advantage, as they outscored Biola 5-1 in the third quarter. The Bears tacked on two more in the fourth, and held Biola to the lone goal in the second half, sealing a 12-7 victory.

Bryce Hummel (Fr., Midfield) lead Biola in scoring with three goals. Eric Gamelson (So., Attack), Josh Nordstrom (Jr., Midfield), Jon Prichard (Fr., Attack), and David Shaum (So., Attack) all tallied one goal in the game, with Shaum dishing out the lone assist. John Harzan (Fr., Goalie) stopped 12 of the Bears’ 38 shots.

On Saturday afternoon, the Eagles’ kicked off day two with a convincing win over the Metropolitan State College Roadrunners. After a 3-3 first quarter tie, Biola blew the game wide open in the second, outscoring the Roadrunners 6-1 to take a 9-4 lead at halftime. The scoring trend continued in the second half, with Biola outscoring their opponents 12-2 to take home a 22-6 win.

Shaum and Prichard lead all scorers with seven goals each, with Prichard edging Shaum in assists, 3 to 2. Riley Corbett (Jr., Midfield) added four goals, and Hummel added three goals and three assists for the Eagles. Nordstrom tallied one goal, Gamelson contributed two assists, and Justin Ahn (Sr., Defense) got the defense on the board with one assist. Harzan added five saves to his season total.

After a quick turn-around, the Eagles took the field for their final game of the weekend, taking on the Northern Arizona University Lumberjacks in their first Southwestern Lacrosse Conference game of the season. Biola’s exhaustion was evident early, as they fell behind 6-1 after one quarter, but they fought back to bring the game closer at halftime, trailing 9-6 at the break. Both teams scored three in the third, but NAU’s physical freshness overtook Biola in the fourth, and they scored five goals to put the game away, earning a 17-11 win.

Shaum and Prichard continued to match each other’s goal output with four goals each; this time Shaum edged Prichard in assists, 2 to 1. Corbett, Gamelson, and Hummel all scored one goal each, with Corbett adding two assists and Hummel adding one. Harzan made 15 saves in the game.