Phoenix, AZ- Facing a team playing for the GSAC championship did not overwhelm Arizona Christian on Saturday against Biola.  Instead the Firestorm dug their heels in and played bend but don't break defense against the NAIA's 14th ranked Eagles.  The end result was a 1-0 Biola win but ACU played as tough as anyone could have planned or hoped.

The first ten plus minutes of the game looked like Biola could put up a couple of goals in a hurry as they attempted four shots including just 26 seconds in but one shot was blocked, two sailed high (a theme that would be repeated several times the remainder of the game), and a header was saved by Senior Bailey Seltzer who started in goal.

ACU actually took the next two shots and put both on goal but Freshman Taylor Baker and Junior Kelsey Stipek saw their shots saved.  Unfortunately, those shots turned out to the only shots taken by Arizona Christian for the entire game.

But despite facing pressure throughout, the ACU defense for the most part did a great job of getting in the way, taking great angles, and forcing tough shots.  Seniors Bree DuHamel, Aubrey Wimmer, and Amber Faulkner- who along Seltzer and Crista Ortiz were celebrated with Senior Day prior to the start of the game- played all 90 minutes on the back line and produced a great defensive effort.  Juniors Serenity Masterson- who started as a defender before moving into the goal for the second half and recording four saves- and Alaina Vetnar combined for the other 90 minutes at left back.

The only blemish in the great defensive effort came in the 37th minute when Biola's Brittni Coffeen lifted a shot from the left side of the box that drifted into the top right corner of the goal.

With Saturday's game in the books, Arizona Christian wrapped the GSAC portion of their schedule.  They will close out their season with two non-conference matches.  The first one will come Tuesday as they will travel to Pasadena, CA, to face off with Providence Christian.  The teams will kick-off at Villa Park at 3:00 pm (PDT)/ 4:00 pm (MDT).