Sacramento State women’s soccer dominated their first two home games of the Big Sky Conference play against the Idaho State Bengals and Weber State Wildcats.

The Hornets have fought their way back into competing in the Big Sky Conference and improved their overall record to 4-6-3.

Friday: Sac State: 4, Idaho State: 1

The Hornets swarmed the Bengals right away, scoring their first goal nine minutes into the match on Friday.

Redshirt freshman forward Candace Ching flicked the ball off her right foot into the bottom right of the net, assisted by sophomore forward Lexi Schroeder.

“I saw Lexi going down the line, so I had to make sure I got in the box,” Ching said. “Then she got a wonderful cross into me, and made sure to get in front of my defender and put it on frame.”

The second goal came 10 minutes later with a perfectly placed corner kick from redshirt senior midfielder Cassandra Herrman that redshirt senior defender Sydney Sharts headed into the net.

“We earned a nice corner, great work by our forwards to get that play off,” Sharts said. “Cass served a beautiful ball in the back post, and I saw it hanging up in the air, took advantage of it and timed it to put it in the back of the net.”

The goal from Sharts off the corner kick was not any surprise as the Hornets have worked on that play in practice.

“That second goal off of Sydney’s head, we drew that up in practice and it worked to perfection,” Sac State head coach Randy Dedini said.

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The third goal for the Hornets happened on a corner kick from Cassandra Herrman that bounced off the goalie and rolled in the net. It was a similar play to Shart’s header, however, nobody on the Hornets were credited for the goal.

The Hornets dominated possession on offense in the first half as they held a demanding 3-0 lead entering the halftime break.

Sac State didn’t have the same intensity coming out of the half, however, they still kept control of the game.

The Hornets’ offense has been moving the ball down the field fast with quick transitions from defense to offense this game as they overwhelmed the Bengals offensively.

Senior midfielder Abigail Lopez cut left and made a Bengal defender fall to create an open lane to score and put Sac State up 4-1 in the 67th minute.

The Hornets’ last two games had a significant difference in weather, they played in windy conditions at Eastern Washington compared to a sunny 98-degree game on their home field which Sharts said they are more accustomed to.

“I think coming into this game, we’re used to the heat and we’re used to the home environment we’ve created here, so we kind of used that to our advantage,” Sharts said.

Sunday: Sac State: 3, Weber State: 0

Sac State picked up where they left off Friday’s game, as they took an early 1-0 lead against Weber State in the first 20 minutes on Sunday Oct. 6.

The Hornets’ offense was moving the ball down the field when Ching found sophomore midfielder Ellie Farber wide open just outside the top of the box. Farber launched the ball into the goal.

“We were at the top of the box and I’m at the top left, wide open,” Farber said. “They found me, I’m praying to stay calm and I found the left side of the net.”

Ten minutes later, Lopez set up a clean play dribbling and faking left to throw off a defender before making the pass to Sharts who headed in a goal to extend their lead to 2-0 in the first half.

“I love taking girls one v. one because I have so much confidence,” Lopez said. “I know they scout on me so I have to change the type of crosses and moves that I make. I’ve been crossing a lot with my left foot, so I decided to fake it with my left, take it with my right and Syd was there.”

The Hornets held a 2-0 lead at the half, in a similar situation to their last game with momentum on their side.

The lone goal scored in the second half happened in the 80th minute as Lopez set up another great assist, clearing out the defender to find an open pass to senior forward Ariana Scholten who got the ball to the bottom right of the net past the Wildcats’ goalkeeper.

“Ali [Fuamatu-Ma’afala] put the ball in the space, what we talk about when there’s a ball bouncing,” Lopez said. “I fought a girl off the ball and I knew Ari was open in the back, so I just passed it.”

The Hornets and Wildcats were very physical throughout as many players fell trying to fight for the ball and three yellow cards were issued, with Sac State’s lone yellow card going to Sharts. There were 15 total fouls in the game; the Hornets had nine of them.

Weber State did outshoot Sac State on total shots in the game,14 to 11, but the Hornets were the only ones to find the net.

Sac State got outscored 0-5 in their previous two games, but flipped the script these last two games, out-scoring their opponents 7-1.

“We haven’t secured anything. We still need to win more games to get into the playoffs,” Dedini said. “But it feels good to win our home games and score seven goals in a weekend.”

Sac State has yet to lose a home game this season, playing their best ball on their home turf with a record of 4-0-2 and outscoring their opponents 12-3.

“Playing at home has been our thing this year,” Dedini said. “We’ve had some tough games where we’ve pulled off ties, but we haven’t lost at home.”

The Hornets’ next game is on Sunday, Oct. 13 at 1 p.m. hosting the Northern Colorado Bears.