Sacramento State women’s soccer (4-3-0) defeated Fresno Pacific (0-3-0) by a final score of 2-0 Friday night.

Senior forward Shelby Salvacion scored her first goal of the 2014 season, when she led the Hornets to a 1-0 victory 49:25 into the game.

Sac State coach Randy Dedini said he was extremely pleased to get a shutout win, especially on the road.

“First of all, they were a pretty good team,” Dedini said. “[Fresno Pacific] put a lot of pressure on us. In the second half, we came out, we played much more up-tempo and played better soccer.”

Led by senior forward Kristen Bridges, the Hornets outshot the Sunbirds 20-14. Bridges shot five, Salvacion and sophomore forward Maggie Pleis had four shots each. Defensively, senior goalkeeper Kimberly Mata led the Hornets with four saves and in the process got her third shutout victory of the season.

“I thought we played really well defensively,” Mata said. “They were pretty relaxed on pressure on us and we decided to speed up the game in the second half.”  

Salvacion said she was relatively ecstatic that she was able to, not only score the game’s first goal and put her team in the lead, but also score her first goal of the season.

“I was really excited because this was the first time that I played a lot,” Salvacion said.

The Sunbirds played the Hornets well, they had a sense of urgency, and they came out fighting especially in the first half.

“[Fresno Pacific] stepped up their game tonight, we weren’t focused, and they came out and gave us their best, so that was good on their part,” Salvacion said.

For Bridges, this was her second goal of the year, as she scored 63:41 into the game to put her team up 2-0. Her first goal came last Sunday in a physical matchup at home against Canisius.

For the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds, this was the third time in three games in which they have been shutout this season. They lost their first game 5-0 last Thursday on the road against Cal State East Bay and lost 1-0 at home versus UC Merced.  

In the first half of play, the Hornets and the Sunbirds played a very tight-knit game trading offensive shots with one another. For Dedini, key halftime adjustments is what essentially made the difference in the outcome of the game.

“We played a much more quicker game [in the second half]. Tonight was a good eye-opener for us,” Dedini said. “As a team, we are so much better when we are faster. The team really responded well in the second half.”

The Hornets will compete at home against UC Santa Barbara next Friday at 4 p.m.