GREENWOOD – The cold weather and rainy conditions were evidently a welcome sight to the Lander men's soccer team on Wednesday night, as they topped rival and 19th-ranked North Georgia by a 5-1 final at Van Taylor Stadium.

Lander picked up a fourth consecutive win and improved its record to 7-2-6, 6-2-3 PBC, thanks in large part to sophomore Callum Stokes' first career hat trick.

The Englishman scored three times in the second half – 65th, 69th and 89th minutes – in an outstanding performance.

Though the final wasn't particularly close, it took Lander until the 44th minute to break the ice just before halftime.

Carson Graves was the beneficiary of tremendous passes from Tal Torgeman near midfield, followed by Ryosuke Tanaka's adept footwork near the 18-yard box before he sent a left-footed shot past the keeper for the lead.

Giacomo Sartori added the second goal of the night – and his team-leading seventh of the season – after some back-and-forth in the box following a corner kick. Sartori has four goals in the last five games.

Stokes then went on his three-goal run to put the game far out of reach.

The Bearcats controlled the action and outshot the Nighthawks 19-8 while holding an 11-4 edge in shots on target. This was only the second conference loss of the season for UNG; Lander also previously played them to a 2-2 draw in Dahlonega on Sept. 17.

Lander heads to Aiken for the regular-season finale with the Pacers this Saturday (Nov. 1) at 7 p.m.