SACRAMENTO -- Thanks to a Herculean effort by junior goalkeeper Mia Shalit, the Sacramento State women's soccer team was able to play alongside nationally ranked Washington for most of Thursday's non-conference battle, but the No. 22 Huskies were able to pull away late, scoring twice in the final 10 minutes to break open a one-goal match en route to a 3-0 victory.

The loss dropped the Hornets to 0-6-2 overall on the season despite holding Washington to just one goal for nearly 81 minutes before succumbing late. The Huskies, meanwhile, remained unbeaten on the year, improving to 6-0-2 overall.

Shalit came up huge between the pipes for Sacramento State as her 11 saves are tied for the second-most in her Hornet career, coming up just shy of the 15 stops against another nationally ranked foe in then-No. 21 Stanford in the regular season opener. Thursday marked the third career double-digit save performance for Shalit, who also stopped 11 shots at Saint Mary's on Aug. 19 of last season to go along with her career performance against the Cardinal.

Five of those saves came in the first half for Shalit as Washington was first on the board just 2:28 into the contest. The Huskies earned a corner on the far side and Summer Yates lofted a ball to the top of the six where Kyla Ferry elevated and headed it home to the right post for her third goal of the season and the 1-0 lead.

However, that would be it for the Huskies for the remainder of the half as Shalit shut the door with stops in the ninth, 18th, 39th, 40th, and 45th minutes, keeping her team within striking distance as the horn sounded.

Sophomore Abigail Lopez had the Hornets' first chance on the night just three minutes after Washington broke the scoreless deadlock, as teammate Kalista Hardy beat Husky goalkeeper Olivia Sekany to the ball on the right side and the ball squirted out to Lopez at the top of the six. There, Lopez had enough to turn past her defender and hook a right-footed attempt that bounced just wide to the far post.

Washington applied early pressure to start the second half, winning three corner kicks and forcing Shalit, who made six stops total after the break, into three saves in the first 25 minutes before Madelyn Dougherty was able to punch Sacramento State's first shot of the period off target to the left.

Dougherty had a solid chance turned away by goalkeeper Olivia Juarez, who made a diving stop to her right in the 79th minute, before the Huskies were able to strike for some insurance in the 81st minute.

Yates again started the attack for the Huskies, gaining control and slipping a pass into the box from the top of the 18 for Ferry once again, who took a touch and blasted a right-footed shot to the upper left corner to make it 2-0. Nearly five minutes later, Washington capped the scoring with its final goal of the contest as Kelsey Branson netted her first of the year by winning the ball off a misclear by the Sacramento State defense, unleashing a shot from the top of the 18 to the left side for the 3-0 advantage.

The Huskies out-shot the Hornets, 27-4 for the match, putting 14 of their attempts on frame, while earning 12 corner kicks to only two for Sacramento State.

The Hornets close out non-conference play on the road in Southern California on Sunday (Sept. 18) at 1 p.m., traveling to CSU Bakersfield.