SACRAMENTO, Calif. - UC Riverside got on an early run and never looked back in the first half, scoring four times to take a 4-0 halftime lead that ended up being the final score in a Highlander win over the Hornets on Thursday at Hornet Field.

The match was the Big West Conference opener for both teams as UC Riverside improved to 2-6-1 overall this season and Sacramento State dropped to 2-6-2.

"Obviously it was a disastrous first half for us," Sacramento State head coach Michael Linenberger said. "I told my guys at halftime that they (UC Riverside) weren't miles better than us in the first half although the score indicated it. Between the penalty boxes the game was even, but where they killed us was inside both boxes.

"They took advantage of opportunities and scored four goals while we didn't take advantage of opportunities and they defended pretty well. We had some very bad mistakes on our part to lead to their goals from veteran players on my team, so that's what was most disappointing"

Sacramento State had a golden opportunity to score the first goal of the game as senior Chimdum Mez was stopped in close on a shot in the second minute and senior Andres Garcia followed with a header that was cleared by the UCR defense.

After that the Highlanders took over, scoring first in the 14th minute off a free kick from 30 yards out that was headed in off the bottom of the crossbar by sophomore Stephen Copley. Less than nine minutes later the visitors doubled their lead as junior Michael Salazar put home a lose ball off a blocked shot in the Hornet box.

At the 35-minute mark, UC Riverside sophomore Romario Lomeli took a corner kick that hit a few bodies in the box and found sophomore Andre Parada for a close finish in the goalmouth. For good measure the Highlanders scored again with just 23 seconds left in the half as Lomeli sent a slip pass to senior Otis Earle for a low finish to the far post.

UCR packed it in defensively in the second half with its large lead. The Hornets did have some good scoring chances, however, including a contested breakaway try from Garcia on a fine pass from Mez that the senior missed high on the shot. In the 63rd minute sophomore Ivan Ramirez ripped a shot from the right of the UCR goal but keeper Ashkan Khosravi made a fine diving save.

Khosravi was spelled by backup KC John for the final 23 minutes of the game and the duo combined to make three saves for the shutout. Redshirt freshman James Del Curto played the second half in net for the Hornets and made one save after sophomore Teddy Sampson made one stop in the first period.

A couple of late shots for the Hornets brought the shot count to 12-10 in favor of Riverside after a 5-4 shot edge for Sacramento State in the second half. The Highlanders had a 7-3 edge in corners in the first half and were 8-6 for the game. Mez and Garcia paced the Hornets with two shots apiece.

Sacramento State will host Cal State Fullerton on Saturday at 3 p.m. The Titans took a 3-1 loss at UC Davis to open their Big West schedule on Thursday.