Sacramento State women’s soccer came back to force two overtime periods but only netted one goal against the University of Pacific, resulting in a 1-1 draw on Sunday.
The tie, which is the Hornets’ second in the past three games, puts the team record at 2-3-2 and has Sac State head coach Randy Dedini excited for Big Sky competition to begin.
“I liked how even though we went down a goal early, we maintained our composure and battled back to get the tying goal…from that point on, all the pressure was put on them,” Dedini said.
Despite outshooting the Tigers 22-15 — 10-7 in shots on goal — the Hornets could not capitalize on their opportunities. Tigers’ goalkeeper Lena Perry displayed solid goalkeeping and limited the Hornets to just one goal and recorded eight saves after 110 minutes of playing time.
Sac State found themselves trailing early on in the first half after Tigers midfielder Lily Higashino scored a goal in the 24th minute from five yards out.
The Hornets had a handful of chances to tie the score in the first half, but their lone goal did not come until the 57th minute during the second half. The score came from junior Kayla Collins, by way of an assist from senior forward Adaurie Dayak, in which the ball was shot to the far post ricocheting off the bar and bouncing into the net.
“When we started the second half we had the mindset of coming in hard,” Sac State sophomore goalkeeper Destiny Butcher, who watched the score from across the field, said. “I think there is a lot of heart on this team and that really helped us battle back.”
Butcher also played a part in keeping the Tigers off the board as she finished the game with six saves — five of which came in the second half and overtime periods — after allowing an early goal in the 24th minute.
The Hornets were a foul call away from scoring in the 89th minute and winning in walk-off fashion — after finding the back of the net with a header from a corner kick — but referee Victor Rivas waved off the play calling a penalty on Sac State, negating the game-winning goal.
“I thought our girls did a great job on coming back to potentially win the game,” Dedini said. “Sometimes calls don’t go your way.”
Issues ensued as Butcher made a diving save off a deflection, but took a big shot to the head from a falling Pacific player in the 95th minute of the first overtime period. Butcher was slow to get up but was able to return to play and Pacific forward Sigrid Aas drew a yellow card from the official.
The physical play continued throughout the game as a total of 28 penalties — 17 on Pacific and 11 on Sac State — were called on both teams. Two Hornets, senior midfielder Jennifer Lum and sophomore midfielder Caitlin Prothe, were injured during the game and had to be helped off the field after collisions.
Sac State regrouped and went on to create some scoring opportunities in both overtimes periods; the best being a hard shot by forward Collins in the 106th minute, but Perry performed a full body extension save to deny the Hornets a chance at victory.
“I was proud of our girls, we never really let down and I felt like we deserved to win this game,” Dedini said.
Sac State will play their final non-conference game against St. Mary’s College at Hornet Field on Sunday, Sept. 18 at 2:30 p.m.
