The Sacramento State women’s soccer team won its seventh straight home game today, braving cold and rainy conditions to beat the Weber State Wildcats 2-1 in double overtime at Hornet Field. It was the first Big Sky Conference game of the year for the Hornets as the team recently completed non-conference play on Oct. 7.

The game began amidst steady rain showers, and the temperature at kick-off was 57 degrees Fahrenheit.

The Hornets got out to an early lead thanks to senior Amanda Gray’s fifth goal of the season in the 11th minute, which came off of a cross from sophomore Kim Kemper.

Weber State responded with a goal of its own in the 20th minute to tie the game at 1-1. Wildcat junior Hayley McCoy recorded the goal unassisted, her second score this year.

The game went into halftime tied after a soggy and muddy first period. Weber State outshot the Hornets 9-6, and sophomore Rebecca Ritchie recorded four saves for the Wildcats.

“Conditions weren’t conducive to offense,” said Weber State coach Tim Crompton.

The deadlock continued after halftime, although the Hornets did outshoot the Wildcats 8-5 in the second half. The rain also did not let up, as it continued to fall throughout the match.

“(We’re) just not used to the wet surface yet,” Hornets coach Randy Dedini said. “That was a good experience for us.”

After 90 minutes the game remained tied at one goal apiece, and the teams headed into overtime. As the Hornets prepared for extra soccer Dedini said he told the team that, “We don’t lose on our field, especially in overtime.”

The conference rivals battled to another standstill after the first overtime and the Hornets found themselves ten minutes away from recording a tie in the conference opener. The stalemate finally ended when senior Katie Burton fired the golden goal into the left side of the net in the second overtime, clinching the win for the Hornets off of an assist from freshman Erin Tarantino. The entire Sac State bench erupted and streamed onto the field as players swarmed Burton in jubilation.

“That’s the best feeling,” Burton said, “knowing you just won the game for the team.”

It was the first goal of the season for Burton, who plays on the defensive backline for the Hornets. Until her game-winner today, Burton had not scored a goal since Sept. 15 of last year, against Menlo College.

“There’s a different hero every game,” Dedini said. “(Burton’s) one of our strongest players, period.”

The win is Sac State’s second straight overtime victory at home after the Hornets bested the Miners of the University of Texas at El Paso 1-0 on Sept. 30. The Hornets also begin conference play at 1-0 for the second straight year and remain undefeated at home.

“It was an ugly game,” said Dedini. “It’s not always pretty but in conference we just have to win.”

The Hornets record stands at 7-3-2 overall.

Weber State drops to 4-6-1 with the loss and the Wildcats have only one over their past six games.

“We played well, we had our chances,” Crompton said. “(We’ll) just move on to the next game.”

The Hornets will next face Idaho State Sunday at Hornet Field. It is the first meeting for the two teams since the Bengals defeated Sac State on penalty kicks in last year’s Big Sky Conference Championship game. The Bengals are 5-3-3 this season and begin conference play today at Portland State.

Kick-off will be at 11 a.m. and the men’s soccer team’s match against New Mexico will follow the game at 1:15 p.m.

Contact Fernando Gallo at [email protected]