NEWBERG, Ore. – Scoring the first “hat trick” of his career, sophomore forward Luke Hammer notched two first-half goals and another in the second half, leading the George Fox University Bruins past the Pacific University Boxers 5-3 in a Northwest Conference men's soccer shootout here Saturday afternoon at the Austin Sports Complex.

With the win, George Fox improved to 2-9-1 on the season and 2-5 in the conference.  It was the Bruins' second straight win, following a 1-0 victory at Willamette University on Sept. 30, and gave them consecutive wins for the first time since a three-game streak from Sept. 7-15, 2009.  It was also the Bruin' first win at their new Austin Complex home, which opened a little over two years ago on Sept. 2, 2010.  Pacific, which suffered its fourth straight setback, fell to 3-9 overall and 1-6 in the NWC.

Hammer put the Bruins on the board at the 12:50 mark in the first half when Luke Dickens fed him a through ball and he hammered it home from the upper left corner of the keeper's box to the right corner of the net.  The Boxers responded at 30:58 when Jorge Mandujano lofted a corner kick from the left to the mouth of the goal, where Grady Bryson headed it home for his second goal of the season.

Hammer was at it again 22 seconds later as he took a cross from the right side of the box by Andrew Van der Werff and, with a sliding kick, drilled it over the head of Pacific keeper Michael Summers.  Dickens then made it 3-1 Bruins when he made a steal from the Boxers' back line and sent his first goal of the season from the top of the box to the right corner at 37:35.

Pacific again responded a mere 27 seconds later as Alex Arrington grounded a cross from the right side of the box all the way through the middle to Luis Quintana, who put the ball into the middle of the net.  That left the Boxers with a 3-2 deficit at the half, despite a 16-4 advantage in total shots in the first half.

After a scoreless 25 minutes to start the second half, the Bruins added two more goals five minutes apart to build a comfortable lead.  Hammer picked up his third goal of the game and fourth of the season at the 70:53 mark when he took the rebound of a shot by Myles Sorokovsky that had been stopped but not controlled by second-half goalie Zach Cohen and tapped it inside the left post.  Not to be denied, Sorokovsky made it 5-2 Bruins with an unassisted goal of his own inside the right post at 75:43 following two Bruin shots in the box which had been blocked.

The Bruins' three-goal lead proved to be more than enough to offset one more goal by Pacific.  Quintana scored his second goal of the game and the season at 77:09 when Bryson got him the ball out of the middle of a scrum and he snuck it inside the left post, but that was the Boxers' last gasp. 

Pacific held a 26-15 final edge in shots and 11-9 in shots on goal, but George Fox goalie Elliott Davis kept the Boxers in check with eight saves.  Summers had one stop and Cohen three in sharing keeper duties for the visitors.  Pacific also held a 10-3 advantage in corner kick opportunities.  The game was an emotionally-charged contest, with 15 fouls and three yellow cards whistled on the Bruins, and seven fouls and four yellow cards called on the Boxers.

NEXT: George Fox is off until next Saturday, hosting Willamette University in a conference contest at 2:30 p.m. ... Pacific hosts Linfield College Friday evening at 7:00 p.m. in an NWC match.