LA MIRADA, Calif --- It was a dead-even battle right at the start, but successful subbing by new head coach Todd Elkins and hard work from players late in the game made all the difference as Biola edged Northwest for the 2-1 win on Wednesday.
 
Midfield was the most popular place to be throughout the first half of the late game on Wednesday as neither team wanted to give up an inch. Possession changed hands almost constantly throughout the first 45 minutes of play and no one seemed to gain any sort of offensive ground.
 
Defense was key for both sides throughout the half, to maintain pace with their opponent. 10 fouls were issued in the first half, making for a slow, structured battle.
 
The back-and-forth led to a blank score at halftime, and it led to some tired players. The hard work put in to maintain the defensive pressure would come into play later into the second half.
 
Everything seemed to be par for the course heading out of the gate in the second half as it looked like the game was headed toward a scoreless draw. That was until Daniel Chew made a break for the goal 71 minutes into the game.
 
Chew, the team's leading scorer from a year ago, one of three players with eight goals, had just entered the game at 65 minutes as a replacement for Stephen Tanquary.
 
He had fresh legs and he was showing it, making the most out of his ability to beat out defenders in a foot race. He and Sava Pantic had a two-on-one and were breaking quick toward the goal when Chew put the ball in the back of the net from ten yards out. The goal was his first of the season and 16^th of his Biola career.
 
His 17^th would follow soon after as he tacked on his second goal of the game off of a deflection close to the goal 78:49 into the game.
 
Chew's two goals came as the result of a positive matchup created by some substitutions that came late in the game for Biola.
 
"They (Northwest) started to get tired," said Head Coach Todd Elkins. "We stayed pretty consistent and were able to take advantage when they had some lulls."
 
Following the goal, Biola was staring at a sure victory with a 2-0 lead with just 10 minutes to go. The only thing yet to be decided would be whether goalkeeper JT Addington could wrap up the shutout, which would be the first of his career.
 
Unfortunately for him, Mackenzie Samuelsen found the net on a set piece, on of Northwest's six corner kick attempts. Samuelsen was able to convert on a header after an assist from Jacob Weaver at 79:44.
This would be the last of the scoring, so Chew's second tally ended up as the game-winner and Biola moved to 1-0-0 on the year.
 
"It is better to go into more training following a win," said Elkins. "It is so early, it is nice to have a counting game in the books."
 
Northwest tallied four offsides and six corners and Biola never went offsides and tried seven corner kicks.
 
Biola will take some time to scrimmage CSU Los Angeles on Saturday and will return to the counting games Aug. 27 at home against Azusa Pacific.