by Kyle Trembley

Photos by Aaron Jaffe: Pride Staff Photographer

A crazy goal with just 40 seconds left in regulation saved what would have been a disastrous loss for Cougar men’s soccer, as the squad came back to tie Biola 1-1 at home on Saturday.

CSUSM moves to 3-3-2 on the year.  Biola is now 1-4-1.

The start of Saturday’s game was the most physical soccer that’s been played at Mangrum Field this year.  There was serious contact on both sides, with neither giving an inch or generating many opportunities.  It culminated in the thirty-first minute, when a nasty tackle resulted in a Biola player and subsequently a CSUSM assistant coach getting red carded.

Despite the man advantage, the Cougars did not look particularly focused following the incident, as Biola had the better of play for a large portion of the match.  A scoreless tie was broken early in the second half, when a cross from Marco Ruvalcaba found the foot of Dylan Wingrove, who drove a shot into the back of the net to put Biola up 1-0.

Biola continued to threaten, and if not for two heroic saves by Cougar keeper Kevin Ernst, the game would have been put out of reach.  However, with the clock winding down and CSUSM desperate to get the equalizer, a seemingly innocuous throw-in on the Biola end of the field proved costly for the visitors.  Alex Rodriguez launched the throw-in into the box, over the keeper’s head and into a massive pile of players.  In the group was Andrew Podruski, who may have gotten a touch in before it bounced off a Biola player and into the net.

However the goal was scored, it saved what would have been a bad result for CSUSM, who held that man advantage for over an hour.  The 1-1 tie persisted through both overtimes.

CSUSM will be in action on Thursday at Concordia.