Coming into the weekend at 1-8-2, the Sacramento State’s women’s soccer team was simply a squad looking to stay afloat.

Now, they are sailing into the middle of the pack in the Big Sky Conference after a dominant 4-2 win over Eastern Washington on Sunday. 

“We at least put ourselves in the race,” said head coach Randy Dedini.

Back at Hornet Field against the Eagles (5-9, 3-3 Big Sky), the Hornets (3-8-2, 2-3 Big Sky) looked to set a tone early in this match, and they did just that. 

Just three minutes and 52 seconds into the match, senior midfielder Samantha Craig drove the ball right down the middle of the field after securing a long punt and gave Sac State an early 1-0 lead.

“This is what we want, to finish these opportunities,” said senior forward Ele Avery. “We were creating so many, and we wanted to keep our defense up and hopefully start getting some clean shots.”

Sac State’s offensive assertion continued throughout the first half with the Hornets outshooting the Eagles with four shots that were all on goal.

Right bhalftime break, the Hornets were able to get another point on the board after senior defender Jessica Mann dropped a pass to sophomore forward Jordan Goularte in the middle of the box, scoring the first goal of her Sac State career.

Another goal for Sac State!

Sophomore forward Jordan Goularte scores a left side goal to put the Hornets up 2-0 just one minute before the halftime break. @SH_Sports

— Jordan Latimore (@jordanlatimore7) October 10, 2021

“We have very talented players in the offense,” said sophomore forward Jasmyne Dunn.“Once we started realizing why we’re here, why we’re playing and everything that we can give to the team, it started clicking in our head.”

Coming out of the gate of the second half, however, it was clear the Hornets were not out of the woods yet. Eastern Washington opened the half with a vengeance, scoring a goal in the first two minutes, making the score 2-1.

Despite the early Eagle aggression, Sac State had a quick response with Dunn also scoring her first career goal in the 61st minute, giving the Hornets a 3-1 lead.

Eastern Washington would not go away quietly, though. Late at the 83rd minute mark, the Eagles struck their second goal of the match from senior forward Taylor Matheny.

With just six minutes left in the match, Sac State knew they had to put the game out of Eastern Washington’s reach. 

Avery then caught a possession from a long punt pass and dribbled upfield through three Eastern Washington defenders. She was able to take the ball all the way to the Eagle penalty box and score, allowing the Hornets to walk off with a 4-2 statement  victory.

🔥 ELE. AVERY. Does it again! 🔥

Avery scores her second goal in as many matches to put the Hornets up, 4-2, in the 86th minute! #StingersUp #LiveGreen #WeAreRelentless pic.twitter.com/idAQsJXcSw

— Sacramento State Women’s Soccer (@SacStateWSoccer) October 10, 2021

“[This] is not surprising at all,” Avery said. “This is what we’ve been wanting to do. Even in these games we got scored on, but we were able to bounce right back, and that’s what we should have been doing.”

After winning back-to-back games and getting back into the fold of the Big Sky standings with a close to .500 conference record, the Hornets feel like they are finally able to get back on track.

“I think we’re just starting to feel a rhythm now,” Dedini said. “It took us a while to figure out with this group, but hopefully now after two good games, we feel better about what we’re doing collectively.” 

The Hornets next match will be on the road Friday, Oct. 15 against Weber State at 2 p.m.