PARKLAND – Blake Warner found the back of the net twice in the second half as the Pacific Lutheran women's soccer team overcame stormy weather and a strong Pacific offense to defeat the Boxers 3-1 Saturday.

Pacific Lutheran improves to 9-4-5 overall and 7-2-5 in Northwest Conference play with the win, while Pacific falls to 8-6-3 overall and 5-6-2 in the NWC. The win gives PLU 26 points in the conference standings – behind only Linfield (34) and Puget Sound (32) – and helps give the Lutes a cushion ahead of Lewis & Clark (19) and Pacific (17).

"There were some really tough conditions to play in today, and Pacific is always a very scrappy team," PLU head coach Seth Spidahl said. "I was really proud of our team because it was not an easy day to play and Pacific is not an easy team to play. To come up with the 3-1 win really gets us in line with our conference goals to finish in the top three."

The match featured large amounts of wind and rain, creating a challenging environment for play. Kaylie Rozell gave PLU a lead in the 22nd minute, taking a pass from Lauren Larson about 30 yards out and bouncing it off the crossbar and into the goal. That lead was short-lived, however, as McKenna Davidson tied it up for Pacific only 98 seconds later on a penalty kick. Pacific held a 9-4 shot advantage and a 5-2 corner kick advantage going into halftime.

"It was kind of a tale of two halves, as the first half we had to go against the wind and really fight the elements," Spidahl said. "The goal was to come out of halftime tied, and we did. We really put together some good combinations in the second half."

Warner's two goals came during a three-minute stretch for PLU midway through the second half. She scored on a shot from the opposite side of the box from the goalkeeper following a pass by Larson to give PLU a 2-1 lead in the 63rd minute of play. She followed that with a goal from the left corner flag area off a pass from Nicoya Benham-Marin in the 66th minute as PLU out-shot Pacific 6-2 in the second half.

The win puts PLU in strong position for its first double-digit win total since 2006, as the Lutes have nine wins with two home matches remaining. It was also PLU's first win over Pacific since 2008.