Sacramento State goaltender Amy Seely recorded her second shutout of the year in a 1-0 non-conference win over the University of California, Riverside Tuesday at the Hornet soccer field.

With the win, the Hornets improved to 2-4 (1-0 in the Big Sky Conference) on the year.

Seely, a sophomore, stopped six shots with most of the saves coming late in the second half.

“Amy did outstanding. She saved us a lot of goals,” Hornet forward Lisa Wrightsman said.

The Hornets’ lone goal came off the foot of midfielder Katie DeClercq at 23:37 in the first half, with the assist from Wrightsman. The score was Declercq’s second goal of the year.

DeClercq made her move toward the goal and Wrightsman placed the ball to her feet. With Riverside goalie, Natalie Juarez racing off the goal line, DeClercq slipped the ball past Juarez to give the Hornets a lead that they would never relinquish.

“Lisa played a beautiful ball,” DeClercq said.

Sac State dodged a few offensive threats from the Highlanders in the first half, including a shot that rang off of the goal post and ricocheted right back to the Seely.

With a 1-0 lead coming out of halftime, it was up to Sac State’s defense, nicknamed “The Rock”, to put the clamps down on a Riverside offense which had averaged three goals a game coming into Tuesday’s match.

Defenders Jennifer Iha, Amber Dragomir, Marisa Mercado, and Stacey Rowell lived up to “The Rock’s” reputation by breaking up Riverside attacks and clearing dangerous balls out of their goal area.

Late in the second half, after a couple Riverside shots sailed past the goal, Hornet head coach Sandra Asimos moved Wrightsman and DeClercq back to defense. The strategy worked as the Hornets held on for the shutout.

“(The defense) was great and they worked hard for 90 minutes,” Seely said.

On the rare occasion that a ball did get by the defense, however, Seely was there to save the day.

With 25 minutes remaining, Riverside forward Jessica Armel set off a booming shot from the right corner of the goal box. Seely leaped to her right and deflected the ball off her fingertips just enough to send the ball sailing over the crossbar.

“I was pretty happy with my performance,” Seely said.

Riverside threatened to knot the score during the final 15 minutes of the game. But with every Riverside run, there was a Hornet defender ready to break it up.

With three minutes left in the game, and the Hornet defense back on its heals, a dangerous ball was struck into open space right in front of the Sac State goal. With Highlander forwards racing toward the ball, Rowell came out of nowhere to strike the ball out of play.

That play put the seal on any chance for a Riverside comeback.

“We showed a good team effort and we battled for 90 minutes,” coach Asimos said.

Sac State’s next game is against the University of Hawaii on Sunday, at the Hornet soccer field. Kick off is scheduled for 1 p.m.