NEWBERG, Ore. – Playing their fourth game in six days, the Northwest Christian University women's soccer team dropped to 1-3 on the season on Wednesday with an 8-1 loss at the hands of George Fox University. Kara Nelson (pictured) gave the Beacons their only goal with a penalty kick in the 60th minute.

The Beacons fell victim to an early goal once again as the Bruins pounced to a 1-0 lead just 30 seconds into the game when freshman Esther Harder took a pass from senior Jenny McKinsey and sent it inside the near post for 10-yards out on the right side of the box. Harder then assisted on a goal by Kirsten Cardwell just six minutes later and GFU never looked back.

“This simply came down to how banged up and exhausted we were, and how pumped up our opponent was in their season opener,” said head coach Jonathan Rea. “I hate to use that as an excuse, because as a coach you want the best performance every match, but the reality is we were spent! We played hard against Simpson and again just last night against Willamette, and we just didn't have very much gas left in the tank”

The Bruins went on to add three more goals in the first-half, taking a 5-0 lead into the intermission. The score moved to 6-0 before the Beacons got on the board and ended the George Fox shutout attempt. In the 60th minute, Karli Vath was fouled in the penalty area on a scoring attempt and Nelson successfully punched in the ensuing PK. It was the first career goal for the sophomore.

George Fox (1-0) added two more late goals to make it an 8-1 final score. Northwest Christian was outshot 32-7 in the game, managing a pair of shots on goal. Besides Nelson's score, the other on-frame attempt came from Brittany McKinley. Nelson finished with three total shot attempts in the game.

Despite the score, Coach Rea was encouraged by a number of aspects of the game. He said, “Donn Almeida played well in the midfield tonight. She showed a lot of energy and that was something we needed. Also, Rachel Urista battled hard and she saw more minutes because of her effort.”

The Beacons will be back in action on Saturday as they play host to Linfield College in their home opener. The kick-off is scheduled for 7:00 pm. Coach Rea said, “I told the team that these tough non-conference games are a success if we learn from them and correct our mistakes by the time we get to conference. We can't let a loss at this point beat us up for the rest of the season. I believe in this team and I think the players do too.”