The Sacramento State women’s soccer team crushed the Idaho State Bengals 6-3 Friday at Hornet Field.

Coming off two rough losses on the road, the Hornets knew they had to win this home game to keep their playoff hopes alive.

“Our confidence was kind of low coming off of three losses from the road trips and stuff,” freshman forward Kylee Kim-Bustillos said. “But it was really great having all of our fans here and all the support from the community, and I think that helped a lot.”

The first half started off slow, a trend that has followed some of Sac State’s games. A quick goal from Idaho State then made matters worse for the Hornets.

“I think we felt like we were a little disappointed in our first half,” Sac State coach Randy Dedini said. “We felt like we came out a little flat, we weren’t playing the way we knew we could play.”

With Sac State on the offensive side of the ball, senior defender Chelsea Arnold came in with a header off a corner kick and scored a goal, tying the game 1-1 and giving Arnold her first goal of the season.

“I think scoring one goal really gives us some momentum and then starting the half strong and getting one goal at the beginning of half really gets it going for the second half,” Arnold said. “I guess goals lead to goals.”

More scoring followed in the second half, as Sac State connected on three consecutive goals in a row. Senior forward Andrea Boehm, Kim-Bustillos and senior midfielder Caitlin Prothe all scored goals within a three-minute timespan for a 4-1 lead. Prothe later scored another goal to give her five total on the season.

“Yeah, I wish that happened every game,” Dedini said.

Despite a 6-3 victory over Idaho State, the Hornets’ victory may have come at a cost in the form of injuries.

Arnold was caught by an opponent coming through her planted foot during a play in the second half. Last week against Montana, freshman goalkeeper Aaliyah Fesili buckled her knee twice after making a save and stepping in a pothole. Despite rehabbing her knee and describing it as “a little unstable,” Fesili said she could still play. However, her knee buckled again during the game, and she was substituted out in the second half.

With the victory, Sac State is now 2-3-2 in the Big Sky Conference with three conference games remaining on the schedule before postseason play.

“Three more games, and we’re just going to go in one at a time and try to win each and every game, give ourselves the opportunity to get into the playoffs,” Dedini said. “If we could get into the playoffs and get a little bit healthy, this team can win a championship.”

The Hornets go back on the road and will play Weber State at 11:30 a.m. Sunday at Wildcat Soccer Field.