It wasn’t a win, but the Sacramento State Women’s soccer team had to feel good about how they played against Saint Mary’s Tuesday.

The Gaels, who have already played three nationally ranked teams, were able to pull out a hard fought 2-1 victory over the Hornets.

The scoring started when Saint Mary’s midfielder Gen Hollis scored a goal after she rebounded her own miss that ricocheted off the post in the 42nd minute. Just one minute into the second half, Gaels forward Nikki Schrey kicked one past Hornets goalie Jenny Lawrence to make the score 2-0 in favor of the Gaels. In the 59th minute the Hornets got on the board.

Hornets midfielder Rebeccah Phillips kicked one past Saint Mary’s goalie Alicia Artuso on a penalty shot to pull the Hornets within 2-1. The goal was the only recorded shot on goal by the Hornets in the game. Forward Kayelyn Satkowski and midfielder Linda Sanchez were the only other Hornets to attempt a shot. Phillips is enjoying a scoring glut as of late, scoring three goals in the Hornets last four games. Phillips now owns the team lead in goals on the season with three.

The match saw Saint Mary’s out-shoot Sac State 12 to three, with the Gaels taking seven corner kicks to the Hornets three.

Lawrence recorded two saves on the afternoon, while Saint Mary’s goalie Alicia Artuso went without a single save in the match.

The Gaels have played a tough schedule to this point. They opened the season with a 2-1 loss in double overtime to 19th-ranked California, then beat No. 24 Dartmouth by a score of 2-0 before losing 4-0 to No. 6 UCLA in their own tournament.

The Gaels’ record improves to 6-4-1 on the season while the Hornets fall to 3-6-2.

The Hornets will begin a four-game home stand on Friday as well as Big Sky Conference play for the 2005 season. Friday’s game is at 3 p.m. at Hornet Soccer Field against Eastern Washington.

Sacramento State media relations press releases contributed to this report.