Sacramento State women’s soccer could not bounce back from a rough first half against Northern Arizona University.

The Hornets( 6-6-2, 2-2-1) fell to the Lumberjacks (7-3-3, 3-1-0), 3-0 Friday at Hornet Field.

Sac State quickly fell behind in the first half when Lumberjacks forward Haley Wingender scored placing the shot past Hornets junior goalkeeper Kimberly Mata into the near corner of the net in the 33rd minute.

Junior defender Kassi Anast said the communication was one of the big reasons why the defenders were out of position.

“The lack of communication on the backline today effected [Mata’s] ability to play her position well enough,” Anast said.  

It took a little over a minute for Northern Arizona to double its lead as Lumberjacks midfielder Savannah Berry controlled a loose ball in front of the net and put it past Mata in the 34th minute.

At the end of the first half, Sac State was out shot 8-5 but held the slight advantage in corner set pieces, 1-0.

Sac State created many chances to score in the first half but its shots were off target. Mata said it was difficult to see some of the chances that her teammates created to not go in the net.

“I was like one of the fans today in that I was cheering and sighing when we didn’t score some of those chances,” Mata said. “We never gave up even though some of those chances didn’t equal into some goals.”

Women’s soccer head coach Randy Dedini said his team has to regroup for a must-win against Southern Utah Sunday.

“We have to fight now, there is no easy games from here, so there is a sense of urgency to come out with a win,” Dedini said. “It will be interesting how we respond after today’s game.”

Sac State will play  at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Hornet field against Southern Utah University.