Box Score LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Gritty. Tough. Physical. Those three adjectives can describe just about any Golden State Athletic Conference men's soccer match, but especially when The Master's College is involved, as they were on Tuesday evening at Al Barbour Field.
 
The Mustangs used that physical play to earn themselves a few advantage plays and fouls in great areas, which eventually resulted in two goals and a 2-1 win over Biola. The loss snaps the Eagles' win streak at one contest, which is a whole lot sooner thatn Head Coach Todd Elkins, or anyone else, thought it would end.
 
The Eagles had the far better team on the pitch on Tuesday evening, as they dominated possession in the offensive third and had a lot more opportunities off corner kicks, free kicks and counterattacks.
 
"I'm very pleased with the way the boys played tonight. I feel like if I just watched the game and did not see any of the goals, I would have thought we won," said Elkins. "It felt like the boys outplayed their opponent in many areas of the game."
 
The Master's College did have two fantastic finishers in the front of their offensive attack, including the reigning NAIA Offensive Player of the Week, Humphrey Mahowa.
 
Mahowa got the scoring started early in the first half, when he was able to gain position inside the box to receive a long throw in, make a few Biola defenders slip and bury one in the back of the net. It was Mahowa's sixth goal in the last three matches and ninth on the year. He leads the conference in points.
 
After the Eagles' last few wins, Elkins' main focus was pressuring his team to get out to a quick start and grab the lead. Despite a few good offensive chances in the first half, this just did not happen. Once again, Biola found itself looking at a deficit in the locker room. They've trailed at halftime in three of their five GSAC games this season.
 
The second half saw more promising play from the Eagles' offense. They upped their shots, shots-on-goal and corner kick opportunities, and it eventually paid off when Marshall Deogracia scored for the first time this year to equalize the game at one a piece.
 
Deogracia got his chance off a controversial indirect free kick. The referee was playing advantage to Biola as he disregarded a foul right at midfield. However, he whistled the play dead almost simultaneously with another TMC foul that happened inside the penalty box. He was faced with protest when awarding the free kick back at midfield, but all was eventually well for the Eagles when Michael Kute kicked the ball into the box, off Joey O'Keefe's chest and onto the foot of Deogracia, who buried it to tie the match.
 
"We combined really well tonight. We played really quick and got the ball in some dangerous areas in and around the box, but we just couldn't finish all those chances," said Elkins.
 
Another unfortunate foul call ended up in a Mustangs free kick at the top of the penalty box inside the Eagles' defensive third with just under 10 minutes to play. Joey Mikalus hit the back of the net on a laser and scored his third goal of the season, The Master's' second of the game, to get the Mustangs a late lead.
 
It was a lead that would not give itself up, as The Master's played much more disciplined ball over the last 10 minutes. O'Keefe had the Eagles' best chance as he found himself with a bunch of free space inside of the box, but hit the side of the net on Biola's first shot attempt after the second TMC goal.
 
Two more shots would follow, but none went in as the Mustangs keeper, Kyle Cunningham, picked up his fourth win of the season, and JT Addington dropped his third.
 
"It's kind of the way the game went for us," said Elkins. "In a game like this, you try to create better, and more, opportunities than your opponent, and we did that, but we didn't finish."
 
The Master's College entered the game with 24 cards in just 11 matches and added two more bookings to their increasing tally tonight, while Biola received one booking from the referee, Mario Mijangos.
 
Biola falls to 5-5-1 and is just 2-3 in conference play. They face a difficult test against the reigning GSAC Tournament champions, Concordia, on Oct. 15 at 3:00 p.m.