NEWBERG, Ore. - In an evenly-contested non-conference men's soccer match that saw both teams take 18 shots with an equal number of six shots on goal, it was the visiting Northwest Christian University Beacons who got one to go in for a 1-0 victory over the George Fox University Bruins Wednesday night here at the Austin Sports Complex.

The Beacons got the only score of the game at the 36:39 mark in the first half.  As George Fox was launching an attack, Nick Peloquin intercepted a Bruin pass at midfield and quickly sent a through ball to Taylor Hough, the Beacons' lone forward player on offense at that moment.  Hough split two Bruin defenders and out-raced them to the top left corner of the keeper's box, and when George Fox goalie Elliott Davis came out high to challenge him, Hough feinted right, then went left and shot his first goal of the season into the middle of the net.

From that point on, it was a matter of the Northwest Christian defense holding the home team off until time ran out.  Beacon keeper Dusty Stephens had six saves, including nice stops on several hard-struck balls by the Bruins.  One came from Steven Haga on an indirect free kick just six minutes into the game, while his best save came at the 58:31 mark in the second half when he was in the right spot at the right time to deflect a bullet from Myles Sorokovsky from about 10 yards out.  Davis was almost as impressive for the Bruins, making five solid saves.

George Fox held a 6-2 advantage in corner kicks, five in the second half as they put the pressure on try to get the equalizer and give new head coach Luis Del Rio his first win as a college coach.  Both teams played hard, resulting in 31 fouls, 17 on George Fox and 14 on Northwest Christians.  The Bruins were penalized with three yellow cards and a red card for a second yellow on Brandon Zebarth, resulting in George Fox having to play the final 30 minutes of the game short-handed, which made it even more difficult for the offense to get anything going.

NEXT:  George Fox (0-2-1) plays a pair of neutral-site games this weekend, both at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wash.  On Saturday, the Bruins take on Colorado College at 2:00 p.m., then on Sunday, they will meet Trinity Lutheran College at 11:30 a.m. ... Northwest Christian (2-2) opens Cascade Collegiate Conference play Tuesday, hosting Warner Pacific College at 6:00 p.m.