GEORGETOWN, Texas -- Sophomore midfielder David Ching knocked home three goals for his first collegiate hat trick and propelled the Texas Lutheran Bulldogs to a 5-2 road victory Thursday night over Southwestern University.

At Southwestern's Varsity Field, Ching quickly put TLU up 2-0 with goals in the third and eighth minutes. He scored with an assist from Eric Mendez on the first goal and was unassisted on the second goal.

Michael Olivares brought Southwestern back into the match with a pair of goals of his own at the 50th and 54th minutes.

But Ching put TLU ahead for good in the 59th minute with an assist from Alejandro Martinez.

Martinez scored a goal of his own in the 65th minute with help from an Isaac Lopez pass.

Lopez put the game totally out of reach in the 87th minute by converting a penalty kick.

The win clinched the No. 4 seed for TLU in the upcoming Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Championship, to be played Nov. 6-8 in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The Bulldogs improved to 9-7-1 overall and to 6-7-1 in the SCAC.

Southwestern dropped to 6-13 overall and to 6-8 in the SCAC.

TLU and Southwestern split the season's regular-season meetings. Each team won on the road.