PARKLAND – Pacific Lutheran scored three unanswered goals to turn an early deficit into a 3-1 victory over Lewis & Clark on a blustery Sunday afternoon as the Lutes picked up their first Northwest Conference women's soccer win of the 2015 season.

Bouncing back from the team's first loss of the year on Saturday, PLU allowed an early goal but used a pair of Kelly White penalty kicks and Ashley Mindnich's first goal of the season to claim their fifth straight win against Lewis & Clark. PLU improved to 5-1-1 overall and 1-1-1 in conference play, while the Pioneers fell to 4-2 overall and 0-2 in the NWC.

"This was a big character win for us," PLU head coach Seth Spidahl said. "We went down 1-0 against the wind, and you don't know what's going to happen at that point, especially after losing yesterday. I'm really proud of the character that the team showed. I asked them to respond, and they did."

Lewis & Clark got on the board in the 11th minute of play, as Isobel Fikso netted a close-range shot off a corner kick by Megan Ratfield. That score remained for 30 minutes before a foul in the box set up White's first penalty kick, which tied it up at 1-1 going into the half. Prior to Saturday's match, five of the previous six meetings between the two teams advanced to double overtime, while each of the previous nine meetings had been decided by one goal or fewer.

"It's always a tough game against Lewis & Clark; they've got talented players, and it's a hard game," Spidahl said. "I'm really, really proud for us to come back and win the game 3-1. There are a lot of ways to win, and sometimes we're going to have to come from behind and learn how to do that, and we did today."

The Lutes took control of the match late in the second half, during a tense three-minute stretch that featured two PLU goals and three Lewis & Clark cautions. Mindnich scored what proved to be the game-winner from the back post in the 79th minute following a pass from Megan Anderson. Less than one minute later another White received another penalty kick opportunity, and the junior defender delivered once again for the Lutes.

PLU finished the day with a 16-12 shot advantage, including eight shots on goal for the Lutes. Lewis & Clark goalkeeper Kelley Koeppen made five saves in the match, while Takara Mitsui picked up her fifth win of the year for the Lutes with four saves and the one goal allowed.

"I was really proud of our team today, going down a goal and then coming back to win," White said. "I thought our defense played well, we really stepped up today, and it was great to score some goals."

After playing five straight home matches, the Lutes will head to Oregon next weekend for a Sunday match against George Fox. Kickoff is set for 12 p.m.