As time was winding down with three minutes left to play, Sacramento State junior forward Tea Reyes received the ball from sophomore defender Jaety Mandaquit. Reyes’ first touch from Mandaquit’s pass allowed her to get past the Northern Colorado defense.
Cutting inside after breaching into the Bears’ defense on the right hand side of the box, Reyes fired a shot toward UNCO senior goalkeeper Kaya Lindberg. Unable to handle the rocket from Reyes, Lindberg let the ball slip through her grasp and into the back of the net.
“Tea can really smack a ball. She can hit the ball really hard,” women’s soccer head coach Randy Dedini said. “She did a great job cutting it back to her left foot and whipping a hard, low shot. With the wet grass and how hard Tea hit it, it just stuck under [Lindberg].”
The goal in the 87th minute of a tightly-contested Big Sky clash against UNCO earned the Hornets an opening 1-0 win in conference play.
With three minutes left in the Hornets Big Sky opener, junior forward Tea Reyes cuts inside and takes a shot with her left foot. The shot fired from Reyes ends up being too much for UNC senior goalkeeper Kaya Lindberg to handle. 1-0 to Sacramento State. pic.twitter.com/lGz89ikAmi
— Elisha K Chandra (@ElishaChandra_) September 26, 2025
“It’s huge not only to build confidence in our own team,” Dedini said. “But every time you win games, you build that confidence because you think of all the things you did well instead of all the things you didn’t do well.”
This Big Sky meeting against the Bears was full of momentum swings. During the first 20 minutes of the game, the Hornets started off strong with a couple corners and shots toward UNCO.
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After receiving all the pressure from the Hornets, the Bears took control of the later stages of the first half and reversed the pressure onto Sac State. The Hornets managed five shots in the first half while surrendering eight to the Bears. The combined 13 shots was not enough to give either side the lead going into the break.
In search of a winner in the second half, both teams were able to get opportunities on the opposing goal. The deciding factor of the match became which team was ruthless enough to convert one of their chances.
Winning the ball back and maintaining possession in the final minutes allowed for the Hornets to surround the opposing box and ultimately get the winner.
Contributing to five of the 14 shots for Sac State, Reyes got her third goal of the season, continuing her impressive form from non-conference play.
“Hats off to Tea; she’s been probably our most dangerous forward all year long,” Dedini said. “She has a knack for scoring goals, and she has a really powerful left foot.”
Despite pressure from the Bears throughout the game, redshirt junior goalkeeper Izzy Palmatier kept a clean sheet for the Hornets while facing 17 shots on goal throughout the night. Palmatier also made four saves throughout the game.
“She’s been tremendous. She was our team MVP last year,” Dedini said. “She’s been in some big games. We won a championship with her.”
Sac State improved their record to 5-6 on the year and 1-0 in the Big Sky Conference. The Hornets will look to continue their Big Sky campaign on Sunday, Sept. 28 at 1 p.m. against Northern Arizona at Hornet Field.
“If our girls come out with the same mindset like they did today – with the same mentality – that’s what wins games in the Big Sky,” Dedini said. “Sometimes it’s not always about x’s and o’s, but it’s about who wants it more.”
