TACOMA, Wash. — Bella Hanna scored twice in the second half, including the game winner in the 87th minute as the Pacific Lutheran University women's soccer team extended its win streak to seven with a 2-1 victory over Northwest Conference rival Whitworth University. 
 
Trailing 1-0, Bella Hanna scored the equalizer in the 66th minute off a Julia Causbie corner kick before doing it again off another Causbie corner in the 87th minute to secure three points for the homestanding Lutes (8-1-3, 7-0-1 NWC) who remain atop the NWC standings at the halfway point of the season. Hanna now has four goals on the season, all coming in conference play, with two of those being game winners. The assists were Causbie's team-leading seventh and eighth of the year. 
 
PLU outshot the Pirates 12-1 in the first half, including taking all four shots on frame. Causbie had arguably the best chance of the opening half, banging a shot that hit off the crossbar in the 34th minute. 
 
Hannah Cecil rattled a shot off the post six minutes into the second half but it was the Pirates (5-4-2, 3-3-2 NWC) that would draw first blood, scoring in the 52nd minute with Kylee Russell scoring and Emma Ellerd and Yacine Butibale earning the assists.  

"Our sport is funny in that you can you can be very good and dominant and be down a goal and that was our challenge today. Credit to Whitworth. They were fighting and battling hard. It's always a good organized competitive team that never quits. We're super proud of the DNA of this team. Every journey is going to have a come from behind win and that's what our group did, they dug deep," said Head Coach Seth Spidahl.

"We had 12 corners. Julia had a very busy weekend to get two perfect services go to Bella for two good headers. Whitworth made it extremely difficult but the team, they stuck with it, and found a way to be one goal better today."
 
Abby Winkler logged all 90 minutes between the posts, allowing a goal and making one save. Whitworth's Anna Boyer had a busy day in net, making 10 saves and yielding two scores. 
 
It was a statistically lopsided affair despite the tight scoreline. PLU finished the afternoon outshooting Whitworth 26-3, including a 12-2 edge in shots on target. The Lutes additionally took 12 corner kicks to the Pirates' two. 
 
The victory extends PLU's winning streak over the in-state rivals, having now won 10 in a row and is unbeaten in the last 14 meetings (13-0-1), a streak that dates back to the 2018 season. 
 
Pacific Lutheran is back in action on Saturday, trekking to McMinnville, Oregon to face Linfield University to start the second half of conference play. Kickoff is set for 2:45 p.m.