Sacramento State women’s soccer head coach Katie Poynter could not hide a smile after the Hornets played without question their best game of the season on Sunday.

The Hornets ( 4-6-3, 1-0-1 Big Sky) defeated Montana (2-9-1, 0-3-0) 2-0 in front of a large crowd at Hornet Soccer Field.

“That’s our 90 minutes,” Poynter said. “We finally came out composed and (the players) took our instructions to heart.”

“This was a great win for us.”

In the first half the two teams played basically even, with Sac State taking six shots to Montana’s five. The game was scoreless at the half. Then, just three minutes into the second half Hornets midfielder/defender Katie Burton fired a shot on goal that was saved by Montana goalie Sarah Braseth. The ball bounced out to forward Kelly Novak, who headed the ball past Braseth to give the Hornets a 1-0 lead.

The goal was Novak’s first of the year and was more of a relief than anything else. Novak has had a hard time lately, seeing two shots hit off the crossbar in the last two games prior to Sunday.

“It feels amazing,” said.

Novak almost connected on another goal later, but the shot went wide.

In the 75th minute the Hornets scored again. Hornets midfielder Maggie Murphy took a corner kick and sent it into the box. Midfielder Sarah Howard headed the ball to forward Katie McCoy, who headed the ball into the net. The ball never touched the ground on the play, which put the Hornets up 2-0. Both Murphy and Howard were credited with assists on the play. The goal was McCoy’s third on the season, tying her for the team lead with her best friend, midfielder Rebeccah Phillips.

Burton, who just missed a goal on the play that Novak scored on, was seen diving all over the field for 90 minutes.

“You just have to put your body on the line,” Burton said.

As for her near goal that set up Novak’s header, Burton said, “any goal works for me.”Another star player on the day was Sac State defender Mandi Siller who four times denied possible Montana scoring chances with perfectly timed slide tackles and dives. “All I was focused on was keeping a goose egg,” Siller said, “I was not going to allow (Montana) to score today.”

Notes: Sac State goalie Jenny Lawrence recorded her fourth shutout of the year, while recording four saves in the process – The Hornets attempted nine shots to Montana’s four in the second half … The final shot tally was in favor of Sac State by a total of 15 to nine – Sac State surpassed last season’s win total with its fourth win of the season, after finishing last season with a record of 3-15 – Sac State’s next game will be played next Sunday against Northern Arizona at 1 p.m. at Hornet Soccer Field.