Sac State women’s soccer gets crushed in 3-0 loss to Weber State
Hornets remain winless on the road this season
Robert Casey / Weber State Athletics
Sophomore forward Jordan Goularte battling for possession against a Weber State midfielder on Friday, Oct. 15, 2021 at Stewart Stadium. The Hornets were blown out 3-0 against Weber State and remain winless on the road this season
October 15, 2021
In Stewart Stadium to face Weber State, the Sac State women’s soccer team was hoping to get their first road win of the season.
“It’s tough to travel in the Big Sky,” said head coach Randy Dedini.
After a colossal 3-0 loss to Weber State on Friday, that ambition will just have to wait.
Hot off of their back-to-back wins from last weekend, the Hornets (3-9-2, 2-4 Big Sky) looked to continue their streak against the highly regarded Wildcats (8-1, 5-1 Big Sky).
Sac State came out with a lot of energy against the second seeded team in the Big Sky to open the match.
Senior midfielder Shay Valenzano was able to get off an early shot for the Hornets at the six-minute mark, signaling what seemed to be an imposing stamp for the Sac State offense in the first half.
That was not at all the case.
Sac State would go on to get outshot by Weber State 7-3 in the first half primarily because of the Hornets’ inability to cut off short-game passing by the Wildcats.
“We lacked quality in our transitional movements,” senior midfielder Shay Valenzano said. “We were reactive instead of proactive.”
Weber State was able to advance the ball and attack wherever they wanted, which eventually led to a controversial first goal for the Wildcats.
Weber State scored their first goal after a shovel pass landed in possession of sophomore midfielder Andelin Baldwin, who appeared severely offside.
In case you missed it, here is the controversial first goal score by the Wildcats who seemed to be offside on the play. @SH_Sports https://t.co/Abinh2joxf pic.twitter.com/FOgRWEezGM
— Jordan Latimore (@jordanlatimore7) October 15, 2021
She was able to get off a clean shot to put the Hornets in a 1-0 deficit.
After the brutal no-call on the play, Sac State simply never recovered.
“It’s tough to come back from that,” Dedini said. “I think the hardest part of bouncing back from that is still realizing that you still have a lot of game left, and we don’t need to force things.”
The Hornets defense would continue to be under pressure as Weber State would continue to make shot after shot on goal.
Weber State would go on to score another goal just before halftime at the 40 minute mark on a corner cross entry pass that was scored by sophomore forward Alexis Simpson.
Sac State continued to struggle in the second half, with their lack of rhythm on offense eventually leading to more lapses in their defensive unit.
Weber State would go on to score a third goal in the 64th-minute after a solo drive left sophomore goalkeeper Mia Shalit in a one-on-one situation which resulted in an easy Wildcat score.
“We just felt off,” Dedini said. “We couldn’t get into our rhythm. We’re chasing the game, and once you start chasing the game you’re not as patient as you normally would be.”
Sac State lost the overall shot margin 16-6.
The Hornets, who still have yet to win on the road, have to overcome the hurdle if they have any serious ambitions for a Big Sky tournament berth.
“We were just a step off from winning possessions back,” senior defender Aubrey Goodwill said. “We were unable to maintain possession through all lines of the field today.”
The Hornets next match will be on the road against Idaho State on Sunday, Oct. 17, at 11 a.m. and can be watched on ESPN+.
