The Sacramento State women’s soccer team handed North Dakota its first loss in Big Sky Conference play 3-0 Friday at Hornet Field.

Sac State (6-4-2, 1-0-2 Big Sky) senior midfielder Andrea Boehm scored the first goal of the game in the first half. Freshman forward Kylee Kim-Bustillos, who leads the team in goals, scored second with a little over 20 minutes left in the first half to give the Hornets a 2-0 advantage.

Despite their comfortable lead, the Hornets were on edge due to a previous games against Nevada in which they started with a 2-0 advantage but lost in double overtime.

“I feel like we needed a third goal because a 2-0 lead is not a good lead,” said Skylar Littlefield, the Hornets freshman midfielder. “It’s very dangerous once the other team scores one, then they get the momentum that they want to score again.”

Littlefield then scored her first collegiate goal and gave Sac State its first three-goal lead of the season.

“It’s good to get a little bit of breathing room,” said Randy Dedini, the Hornets head coach. “I was a goalkeeper when I was growing up, so I know how important it is to get that second and then third goal. It really allows our goalkeeper to relax and then just try to concentrate on getting a shutout.”

Sac State freshman goalkeeper Aaliyah Fesili was named the Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week on Tuesday and followed that up by recording her third straight shutout performance in conference play.

“Even with that 3-0 lead, I was not comfortable at all,” Fesili said. “North Dakota kept coming on and they were doing really well getting those balls forward. There was never a time where I wasn’t uncomfortable. The score doesn’t mean anything until the game is over.”

The Hornets will next play Northern Colorado at 2 p.m. Sunday at Hornet Field.