LA MIRADA, Calif. --- The decision to move Biola Women's Soccer's season-opening exhibition up two hours to avoid rain paid off as Head Coach Erin Brunelle's Eagles played a full dry 90 minutes and made the most of it in a 2-0 win over longtime rival Vanguard at home on Thursday evening.

Both goals came in the first half as Biola bit back after the Lions controlled play through the first five minutes or so to put together a balanced and exciting final 80 minutes.

The night was a big getting-to-know you event for this Biola Women's Soccer team, since it's been over a year since the 2019 Senior Night saw 13 young women conclude their Biola careers. It was a successful night for the newcomers as setup the first goal and another scored the insurance tally.

"Tonight we approached this game just looking to celebrate the fact we were able to play a game. We came in with grateful hearts for God giving us this opportunity and the Biola administration paving the way for this to be possible," said Brunelle "I think our main focus was to come with that emotion and for the ladies to just enjoy every minute they had out on the field together. Scoring goals just makes it that much more enjoyable."

Sarah Freed, a transfer forward from Folsom Lake College, is the one who made the opening score possible. She used her formidable length and strength to muscle a Vanguard defender off the ball from the right post and served a ball in to Halie Jamir who converted point blank from inside the six. 
 

Biola takes the early lead thanks to Halie Jamir! Eagles up 1-0 on Vanguard after 12 minutes of play. pic.twitter.com/PH7zTiKG4R

— Biola Athletics (@BiolaAthletics) January 29, 2021

Jamir scoring is nothing new as the sophomore just picked up where she left off last season. Her score was the game-winner tonight, adding to the three game-winning goals she notched as a true freshman in an All-PacWest campaign in 2019.

"For the first goal it was about Sarah Freed just muscling a defender off the ball to serve a good ball in for Halie Jamir to finish inside the six. She does not miss from there very often," said Brunelle.

That goal was a big relief and even a bit of a surprise as it really swung the game from Vanguard's favor into a balanced battle. 

The Lions had a lion's share of the possession in the first 10 minutes and began the game with a flurry, recording five shots in the first four minutes. Biola's back line and the freshman keeper Anna Boyer did well to deal with the trouble and keep the game scoreless until Jamir's conversion.

"Vanguard tested us early and had us in some shaky moments in the first five minutes, but the ladies did well to keep their wits about them and settle in defensively and try to stick to the things we've been working on," said Brunelle.

Vanguard had two quick opportunities immediately after Jamir's 12th-minute score with both shots going wide of goal. After that, Biola's midfield and defense were able to hold the Lions to just one shot attempt over the final 30 minutes of the first half.

Conversely, Biola kept the pressure up with great combinations allowing for many outside runs through the remainder of the half.

In the 41st-minute one of those combinations turned into a gorgeous cross and conversion to double the Eagles' lead. Ell Tinsley began the run by winning the ball off a counterchange and found Christine Goodman right on the far sideline. Goodman sped right past her defender and fed a long cross into the box right to freshman Chloe Diaz immediately in front of the net. Diaz chipped in the one-timer for the first score of her collegiate career.
 

Biola up 2-0 now thanks to the inredible effort of Christine Goodman, who finds Chloe Diaz for her first goal as an Eagle! pic.twitter.com/Zr9KvGQkZS

— Biola Athletics (@BiolaAthletics) January 29, 2021

"It was cool to see some midfielders score some goals off some incredible work by our forwards," said Brunelle.

The two scores held to the break as Biola went into halftime holding an 13-8 advantage in the shot column and Boyer earned herself three saves in a solid 45 minutes before handing the gate over to Briana Ruelas.

"We had a change in personnel so tonight was about trying to get everybody's feet wet with some minutes since it's been over a year since anyone has played a game," said Brunelle. "For a lot of them it's their first college minutes, so the idea was to try to get everyone some time together."

There was no scoring in the second half, but both teams had their chances. The two sides combined for 10 set piece chances in the final 45 minutes, but seven saves from the goalkeeper pair kept additional goals off the board.

Vanguard's goalkeeper Haley Magana (in her sixth year at VUSC) was the only player on the pitch to play all 90 minutes as both sides used the exhibition as a tune-up to set them up for conference play.

Jess Hase led Biola with 82 minutes and was very steady at center back for BU.

"Tonight was just a good solid team effort and we hope the ladies can continue to enjoy each other throughout the remainder of the season," said Brunelle. "We have some formidable opponents coming up in less than a week, so now we turn our focus to getting better at the things we want to be foundational. We also need to continue to enjoy and glorify God while we do it."

Next up for Biola is the PacWest Conference SoCal Pod season-opener on the road at Point Loma. The Sea Lions won the league last year with a 9-0-2 conference record and 14-5-2 overall mark. PLNU has not suffered a loss in PacWest play since Biola beat them 1-0 way back on October 28, 2017.

The women play the second-half of all PacWest doubleheaders this year, so that game is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Wednesday, February 3. Watch the game live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/plnu/.