Sacramento State earned their first road win of the season in the final game of the regular season against the Portland State Vikings on Sunday, Oct. 27, 1-0.
Sac State improved to 5-6-6 on the season and clinched a playoff spot to compete in the Big Sky Tournament in Missoula, Montana starting Nov. 6.
The Hornets came prepared, swarming the Vikings and scoring 49 seconds into the game, with a left foot tap from redshirt freshman forward Candace Ching assisted by a cross-field pass from junior midfielder Madelyn Dougherty. The goal was the third-fastest goal in school history.
“It was all a mindset thing. We made a goal to start off the first 10 minutes of the game with really high energy, intensity and just to dominate overall,” Dougherty said. “I could feel that goal coming because we all knew we had to take care of that first 10.”
Sac State controlled the first half, outshooting Portland State 13-5, but Portland State kept them on their heels defensively in the second half.
“They would drop down more midfielders in their back line on defense to try and create more numbers against our strong front line,” Dougherty said about Portland State’s defensive adjustments. “They played really physical and gave up a lot of fouls.”
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In the second half, the Vikings had multiple good looks at the net. Two of their shots on goal hit the side of the goalpost.
Sac State redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Izzy Palmatier had 6 saves and recorded her ninth shutout of her college career.
“There were some moments where we allowed them to get some dangerous shots off, but thankfully they hit the post,” Palmatier said. “Goalkeepers have a saying that when that happens we gotta ‘kiss the post’ because it was another defender for us.”
Sac State has had slow starts all season, falling behind their opponents early in most games. They managed to turn that around this time, winning 1-0 following up their early goal with strong defense.
“We’re playing for momentum. Going into playoffs we want to keep that momentum, that confidence,” Sac State head coach Randy Dedini said. “They only have so many more games together as a team, so there was a lot to play for today.”
The Hornets’ next game is against Northern Arizona in the Big Sky Playoffs in Missoula, Montana, on Wednesday, Nov. 6 at 1 p.m.
