The Sacramento State women’s soccer team beat the Bears of Northern Colorado today 3-0 to win the first ever Big Sky Conference Championship in program history.

“It’s been a great season,” said Hornets coach Randy Dedini. “I think we played maybe the best game of the season.”

The Hornets started the scoring early on, when sophomore Kim Kemper scored her fourth goal of the year in the eigth minute. Senior Amanda Gray and sophomore Danielle Holloway were credited with assists.

Sac State had a chance to add another goal in the 32nd minute, when a header by junior Sarah Howard hit the cross bar of the goal. On the ricochet the ball appeared to squeak past the cross bar and touch the top of the net before it fell back to the ground. Referee Dinesh Singh ruled that it had touched the cross bar, not the net, and therefore was not a goal.

“I thought it went in,” Dedini said. “So I was a little upset.”

“It hit the net,” said senior Katie McCoy.

McCoy made sure there was no doubt when she sent the ball into the right side of the net for the team’s second goal in the 40th minute. She scored it after taking a long cross from Gray.

At the half, the Hornets held a 9-3 advantage in shots and found themselves only 45 minutes away from the biggest win in program history. Despite the lead, senior Katie Burton said she did not feel comfortable up only 2-0.

“A 2-0 lead is the worst lead to have,” Burton said. “Because you score one goal and you’re right back in it.”

“We really did feel like if we could knock one (goal) in, then we’d have a really good shot of coming back,” said Northern Colorado junior Teresa Prais.

The Hornets came out aggressively in the second half, firing six shots in the first 17 minutes. The scored remained 2-0, however, until the 76th minute. Gray earned her third assist of the game when she sent a corner kick into the goalie box that was knocked in by McCoy, making the score 3-0.

“After that third goal went in I felt a lot better,” Burton said.

The Hornets held on in the final minutes to win the first Big Sky Conference tournament ever held at Sac State. As the final seconds ticked away, Dedini was drenched with ice and water from a nearby cooler and the celebration began.

“Nothing is sweeter than winning the whole thing,” McCoy said. “It’s really exciting.”

After the game, the Hornets were presented with watches and the Big Sky Championship trophy. Katie McCoy was named tournament MVP.

Northern Colorado sees its season end after the Bears made it to the conference tournament in their first year in conference.

“We have to consider it a successful season,” said Bears coach Tim Barrera. “This kind of experience is invaluable for our returning players.”

Sac State finishes the season at 12-3-5, setting a new program record for wins in a season. Mandy Trojan recorded her ninth shutout of the year and McCoy now has 14 goals, which leads the conference.

The Hornets will move on to the NCAA Women’s Soccer Championships, which begin on Friday. They will find out who their opponent will be Monday night, when the Championship selection show is aired on ESPNews at 5 p.m.

Fernando Gallo can be reached at [email protected].