SACRAMENTO, Calif. - In the final home game of her career Sacramento State senior forward Kristen Bridges scored a natural hat trick (three consecutive goals) to bring the Hornets back from down 2-0 en route to a 4-2 victory over Idaho on Friday.

Bridges tallied the seventh hat trick in program history, scoring her first two goals over the final three minutes of the first half. It came a year after Gabriela Trenton also scored three goals on her senior day against Southern Utah in 2013, coincidently wearing the same No. 9 as Bridges wore today. Bridges was one of six Hornet seniors playing their final home game on Friday.

"It was super overwhelming," Bridges said of her three-goal effort and the victory. "None of the goals would have been possible without my teammates and it was a great group effort. It was incredible; I don't know how to describe it, just really happy."

In the first ever meeting between the programs, Sacramento State (9-9-0, 4-5-0 Big Sky) didn't have a shot on goal until Bridges scored her first goal in the 43rd minute. Idaho (4-12-2, 4-3-2 Big Sky) jumped to a 2-0 lead 23 minutes into the contest and dominated through the early part of the game.

"They did a good job dictating the pace of the game for the first 20 minutes and once we kind of figured it out and relaxed we started gaining control of the game," Sacramento State head coach Randy Dedini said. "Kristen had a fantastic game and brought us back with two goals late in the half. We shot ourselves in the foot early in the game and we weren't going to let it go after that."

Idaho scored on a lose ball in the box in the 20th minute as sophomore Alyssa Pease was able to finish. Less than three minutes later Vandal freshman Chloe Bell received a pass at the top of the Hornet box and fired into the upper right corner.

With less than two and half minutes remaining in the opening period, Hornet freshman Kylee Smith made a strong run to the right of the Idaho goal and sent a cross that Bridges finished in the goal mouth. With just 16 seconds left in the half, Hornet sophomore Regan Smithers fed Bridges for a break on goal and a shot inside the far post to tie the score.

The Hornets continued to dominate possession throughout the second half but had several near misses on many quality opportunities. With Sacramento State living on the Idaho side of the field the go-ahead-goal felt inevitable, and in the 75th minute a failed clearance attempt by the Vandals gave Bridges a clean look on goal from the top of the box and she buried the shot in the right corner.

With Idaho pressing forward late in pursuit of an equalizer, the Hornets were able to solidify the win on the counter attack. With only 12 seconds left in regulation time sophomore Maggie Pleis fed sophomore Adaurie Dayak for a break away and finish to the top left corner of the Vandal goal.

Sacramento State had a 19-8 advantage in shots in the game and an 11-2 shot count in the second half. The Hornets scored on their only two shots on goal of the first half and scored on four of eight shots on goal in the game. Senior goalkeeper Kimberly Mata made one stop in each half for a win in her home finale.

With the win Sacramento State is currently tied with two other teams for the sixth and final qualifying spot for the Big Sky Tournament. The Hornets are the only team in the league that does not play on Sunday, however, so the postseason picture will look different at the end of the weekend before the Hornets play again.

The final Big Sky games of the regular season will take place next Friday with Sacramento State playing at Portland State at 1 p.m.