Sacramento State Hornets 5-7-0 were defeated by the Montana Grizzlies 7-5-0 tonight by a final score of 2-1. 

After another slow first half by the Hornets, they came out hungry in the second half looking to capture their first Big Sky Conference victory of the 2014 season. 

Sac State coach Randy Dedini said that the team has repeated the same process in each of the three conference games this season, which has led to an 0-3 start for the Hornets.

“It has been kind of a familiar thing in each of our conference games, we play well but there are moments where we just have mental lapses and it cost us goals,” Dedini said. 

The Grizzlies got on the board first by a goal from midfielder Tyler Adair, in which she rebounded a shot and kicked it into the open net five minutes into the match. 

Sac State forward Adaurie Dayak scored her first goal of the 2014 season late in the second half to put the Hornets on the scoreboard with an assist by forward Kassidy Kellogg. 

Kellogg said it was outstanding work on Dayak’s behalf when she scored the goal to make it 2-1. 

“Adaurie just won the ball, passed it to me and I dribbled, she overlapped me, and I played the ball through, she got on it and she put it away for us,” Kellogg said.

Senior goalkeeper Kimberly Mata performed defensively for the Hornets with a total of 10 saves on the night, which is two saves short of matching her career high for a single game.

Mata said the team needs to play better in the first half moving forward with the rest of the conference games by being aggressive and going for the ball. 

“I think we came out pretty flat coming in and it just seemed like we didn’t want the ball that much, but I think the effort level picked up a lot in the middle of the game,” Mata said. “I think everyone including me just taking responsibility of where you need to be on the field and who you should be marking [is key].”

The Hornets will play their next game at home against Eastern Washington 1 p.m. Sunday.