NEWBERG, Ore. – Trailing Whitman College by one point entering today's matches, the Pacific Lutheran University men's soccer team moved ahead of the Blues by two points with a 3-1 victory over George Fox University coupled with a loss by Whitman to Willamette University. 
 
"Today was a really hard game," said PLU Head Coach John Yorke.  "George Fox played well and had a good plan, which made some things difficult for us at times.  I was really happy the way our guys responded after going down a goal on George Fox's first shot of the game."
 
Needing a win to take control of the conference race, the Lutes dominated the ball from start to finish, but found themselves tied at halftime 1-1.  On their first shot of the game, the Bruins beat the PLU defense to take a 1-0 lead.  The Lutes were more than active in the first 45 minutes, ripping 19 shots.  Freshman Zak Gregg registered the first half goal for PLU off of a corner kick by Ryan Griffith. 
 
Gregg scored two more times in the second half for his second hat trick of his freshman campaign.  Gregg had scored just one goal in the previous five games, but was able to bust out of his mini slump on Sunday.  The Federal Way native leads the Northwest Conference in goals (15) and points (32). 
 
Marcus Martin filled in for an ailing Cole Weaver in the second half and came up with three big saves to aid the Lute comeback and earn his first victory over the season.  Overall, PLU dominated the stats, outshooting the home team 31-9 and holding a 9-5 edge in corner kicks and an 11-4 advantage in corner kicks. 
 
"We did some really good things today and showed a maturity in our resolve to get the win," said Yorke.  "All the guys played well and contributed, but I was especially proud of Zak Gregg and Marcus Martin.  Zak has been on a little dry spell with goals and in spite of being man marked and beat up a little bit, he scored three very good goals.  Marcus hasn't seen a lot of action this year, but we need him to come in at half and see out the game for us and he did an excellent job.  We are looking forward to the opportunity to have a chance to play for a NWC championship on the last day of the season."
 
PLU can clinch its third straight NWC title and second straight NCAA Tournament appearance with a win on Saturday over arch rival University of Puget Sound.  Kickoff at UPS is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.