Sacramento State’s women’s soccer team shut down University of the Pacific’s offense Friday afternoon in a hard fought, defensive battle. The game ended with a 0-0 tie, after neither team was able to score in 20 minutes of overtime.

“We played a good game, battled, but could not come out with a win,” said head coach Randy Dedini.

The Hornets kept Pacific close by checking dangerous Tigers players with excellent defense supplied by Christina Trenton and the rest of the defensive squad.

“The (defensive) unit worked well together and did a good job covering me,” said goalkeeper Savannah Abercrombie.

Pacific had 18 shots, but was given no good looks and nothing close to a scoring chance. Sac State was able to break up the majority of Pacific’s attacks to keep the Tigers scoreless after 110 minutes of play.

“We checked all of (Pacific’s) connections up top,” said senior forward Kim Kemper.

Abercrombie made five saves and registered her third shutout of the year. She also has one combined shutout.

Friday’s game was fast-paced and slowed down only because of a 20-minute delay when Pacific midfielder Chyanne Alejado was rushed to the hospital with a suspected back injury 1:13 before the half.

The Hornets came back after the half using one, two touch passes to get through the Pacific defenders and to speed up their offensive game play. They were unable to score, despite being given a one-man advantage when Pacific defender Kortney Agdeppa received a red card with five minutes left in regulation. The Hornets could not connect enough passes to finish their attacks.

Sac State’s closest scoring chance was midfielder Elece McBride’s shot off the goal post. Despite being inches away from a win, Dedini is optimistic about the team’s progress and impressed by their overall effort. He said close games like the match against Pacific prepare The Hornets for prospective matches.

“Win or lose we hope to learn enough to be prepared for the real season, conference games,” Dedini said.

Jeondra Arrington can be reached at [email protected]