TACOMA, Wash. - The Pacific Lutheran University men's soccer team won its first game of the weekend on Saturday, overpowering George Fox University 7-1 in a Northwest Conference match at East Field.

The Lutes (7-4, 3-2 NWC) started out strong with their first goal coming off of a lofted shot from outside the box by Jaisen Zurfluh in the 10th minute. The Lutes found their second goal of the half just a minute later off a finish by Emmanuel Saah, assisted by Joe Sammartino. PLU surpassed the Bruins (1-6-2, 0-3-2 NWC) in shots for the first half, owning an 8-2 edge and taking a 2-0 lead into the halftime break.

"I think today's game went great. We really showed who we are and even though it stinks to lose a clean sheet we put a lot of goals away," said Zurfluh.

The Lutes and Bruins had an aggressive second half. In the 54th minute, Sammartino found himself taken down in the box and while the coaches were looking for a foul, Emmanuel Saah found his second goal of the game. The Lutes followed with four more goals getting a goal from Sammartino in the 72nd minute, goals from Spencer Hokama in the 77th and 84th minutes and Giovanni Brigola in the 90th minute. The Bruins spoiled the clean sheet with a goal in the final 15 seconds of the game.

"We started slow but once we found a goal or two we found our stride and rhythm," said Head Coach John Yorke. "We worked a lot on finishing this week so it was nice to see several goals go in."

The Lutes return to action tomorrow, hosting Pacific University at East Field at noon.