SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Senior Abigail Lopez brought the her team level with her fourth goal of the year midway through the first and sophomore goalkeeper Izzy Palmatier had a key stop on penalty two minutes later that would have given Northern Colorado the lead, helping Sacramento State forge a 1-1 draw with the Bears on Sunday afternoon at Hornet Soccer Field.
The Hornets picked up a point in the Big Sky Conference standings with the result, moving to 4-6-4 overall on the year and 2-2-1 in league play. The draw also kept Sacramento State unbeaten at home in 2024 at 4-0-3 in seven contests.
The Bears moved to 3-13-1 overall and 1-4-1 in the Big Sky with the result.
Northern Colorado took advantage of a deflection in the attacking third on an attempted clear at the top of the box to take the lead just 7:03 into the match as the ball fell at the feet of Lexi Tuite, who put it home to the upper right corner for the 1-0 advantage.
It stayed that way until the 23rd minute when Sacramento State was able to pull even. Lexi Schroeder was fouled near the top of the box, awarding a free kick from about 19 yards to the Hornets. Lopez stepped to the ball and laced a shot around the UNC wall and into the right side of the net to make it 1-1.
The goal was the 15th of Lopez's career, which puts her in a tie for seventh alongside Kim Kemper (2006-09) on the all-time list, and gave her 37 points in the green and gold, moving her into a tie for eighth on that list along with Lori Kerswell (1997-98, 2000-01) and Elece McBride (2008-12).
The Bears had a golden opportunity to regain the advantage just two minutes later, but Palmatier was up to the task as Northern Colorado was awarded a penalty following a handball in the box. Rachel Mortensen stepped to the spot for the attempt, but Palmatier read it correctly, diving to her left and making the save to keep the teams knotted at one apiece.
Riley Schneider for UNC and Madelyn Dougherty for Sacramento State had chances turned away late in the first half as the two teams went to the locker room deadlocked.
The Hornets turned up the heat in the second half, attempting six of the seven shots in the period, forcing Bears' goalkeeper Kaya Lindberg into four of her six saves on the day. Teysha-Ray Spinney-Kuahuia had the first in the 59th minute and had another in the 77th minute punched over the cage.
Senior Sydney Sharts nearly had a header off the ensuing corner kick before sailing wide right, and had another chance for a header off another corner in the 79th minute go in in if not for Lindberg, who smothered the attempt at the doorstep.
Sacramento State finished with a 10-7 advantage in shots, putting seven of its 10 attempts on frame, and finished with six of the nine corners in the match. Sharts finished with three of those attempts, while Spinney-Kuahuia, Lopez, and Candace Ching added two apiece.
The home portion of the Hornets' schedule comes to a close on Friday (Oct. 18) as Sacramento State hosts league-leading Montana at 2 p.m. The Grizzlies, who are 9-2-3 overall and 3-0-1 in conference play, are unbeaten in their last nine (6-0-3) following a 1-1 draw with Eastern Washington on Sunday.
The Hornets then travel to Northern Arizona on Sunday (Oct. 20) for a 1 p.m. kick-off in Flagstaff, Ariz.
