EUGENE, Ore. – A Beacon scored three goals in a game for the first time in school history on Monday night when junior Greg Erickson pulled off the hat trick in a 4-2 victory over the Walla Walla University Wolves.

Erickson led off the game with a goal just two minutes into the contest, taking a perfectly placed through ball from Chris Senick and delivering a shot along the ground past a diving goalkeeper.

The Wolves answered just 2 ½ minutes later when Martin Cisneros fired a bomb from 30-yards out into the upper-left hand corner, past a leaping Cuyler Ziegler in goal for the Beacons. The teams proceeded to go scoreless for the next 40 minutes, taking the 1-1 tie into the second half.

“Our guys weren't really playing with a lot of passion in the first half,” said head coach Chris Bolton. “We told the guys at half time to just go out there and have fun, be comfortable and just play our game.” The intermission speech did the trick as NCU came out firing, scoring their final three goals of the contest in just 13 minutes.

Just three minutes into the second half, Alex Crossingham recovered a Wolves turnover and penetrated the left side of the field before sending a perfect through-ball pass to Tim Anthony at the top of the box. The offensive push forced the Walla Walla goalkeeper to make an attempt on the ball and when Anthony took a shot, it deflected off the goalie into the waiting feet of Senick, who fired in the empty netter from 15-yards. Senick's goal and Anthony's assist would prove to be the game winner.

“Tim was really the difference maker for us out there tonight,” said Bolton. “He came in off the bench in the second half and played with a lot of hustle. He didn't confine himself to one position on the field. He was all over the place, making plays, and had a heads-up shot on what turned into the game-winner for us.”

The Wolves went on to score their second goal in the 63rd minute, as Isaac Lopez took a pass from Daniel Colls and fired in the score, but it wouldn't be enough to send Walla Walla to their fourth straight loss to open the season.

The Beacons (1-3-1) pick up their first victory, and Jared Frasier, who spent the final 45 minutes in goal for NCU, picked up his first collegiate victory as a keeper. Erickson's three goals and six points both set single-game records for Northwest Christian, as he adds to his season and career leading totals in both categories.

NCU will be back in action on Friday night when they play host to the College of Idaho in a Cascade Collegiate Conference clash.