Contact: Mark Albanese, Director of Sports Communication

NEWBERG, Ore. - The Northwest Conference Champion Pacific Lutheran University women's soccer team tallied five goals in a 10-minute stretch on Saturday, downing host George Fox University 5-0 to cap off the first unbeaten regular season in program history.

"As a coach you're always worried what our mentality would be after a big win and winning the conference title, and if the team wouldn't be as sharpe. So we talked about finishing in the last game of the first season," said Head Coach Seth Spidahl.

Kelly White notched the contest's first goal, scoring 14 minutes into the second half off a corner kick served in from Lena Moreno. The assist was Moreno's NWC leading ninth helper of 2016. White's goal opened the floodgates with the visiting Lutes (16-0-4, 13-0-3 NWC), piling on four more goals over the next 10 minutes.

Liz Griffith doubled the PLU advantage just over a minute later, scoring unassisted on a shot from the left side. Machaela Graddy fed a ball to Kelsey Hathaway for a 3-0 lead in the 61st minute before Graddy netted her NWC leading 13th tally of the year in the 63rd minute off a pass from Megan Anderson. Lauren Larson capped off the 10-minute scoring frenzy, finding the back of the net in the 69th minute off a pass from Leah Magee.

"The First half we played fine but we weren't really hungry enough to get the goal. At halftime we talked about being more urgent and purposeful with the ball. We got off to a great start in the second half and just exploded."

"It was great because we got to get a lot of players in the game. It was a great way to finish the regular season. I have a very good feeling with the team and we're really proud of them."

Takara Mitsui made one save in goal, collecting the squad's 16th clean sheet of the year. The Bruins' (3-13-3, 3-10-2 NWC) Morgan Bars tallied the loss, making seven saves in 80 minutes of work.

The victory capped off the first unblemished regular season in program history for the Lutes who secured the NWC title and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament on Wednesday night with a 2-0 decision over the University of Puget Sound.

"To be on the first PLU team to go undefeated in regular season play is a real special thing and their going to remember that and look back on that after their playing days are over. I'm really happy for them and credit to all the players because they've worked really hard and are dedicated and coachable and have bought in from the start."

"Talent plus mentality wins games. We've had good talent this year but talent alone doesn't win games. Their mentality to go and be on a mission and not just have a mission has been awesome. I'm looking forward to the second season. We're not done yet and want to keep going. I feel like we have a good team that could do some damage in the playoffs and we look forward to seeing where we go on Monday."

PLU will learn its NCAA Tournament destination on Monday morning during the NCAA selection show to be aired at 10:30 a.m. on NCAA.com.