HILLSBORO, Ore. — Sacramento State freshman Candace Ching put home her second goal of the season just 49 seconds into the match and the defense did its part to shutout host Portland State the rest of the way, as the Hornets posted a 1-0 victory on a rainy Sunday afternoon at Hillsboro Stadium in Hillsboro, Ore.
The win extended Sacramento State's unbeaten streak to six consecutive matches (3-0-3), improving the Hornets to 5-6-6 overall and 3-2-3 in Big Sky Conference play on the year. The six-match unbeaten streak is tied for the fifth-longest in school history, which is the longest for the program since it went 11-0-6 in 17 consecutive matches during the 2019 campaign.
During its recent streak, Sacramento State has surrendered only three goals while scoring 10 of its own.
With the result, Sunday's victory wrapped up the No. 5 seed for this year's Big Sky Tournament in Missoula, Mont., where the Hornets open the postseason against No. 4 Northern Arizona — a 2-0 winner over Idaho State on Sunday — at 1 p.m. PT on Nov. 6. Sacramento State battled the Lumberjacks to a 1-1 draw in Flagstaff, Ariz., just a week ago on Oct. 20.
With the loss, the Vikings fell to 4-8-4 overall and 2-3-3 in conference play. Portland State is the No. 6 seed and opens against No. 3 Eastern Washington at 10 a.m. PT. Montana and Idaho are the top two seeds and earned a first-round bye.
Everything started less than a minute into the match as junior Madelyn Dougherty evaded her defender at the top right of the box and chipped a ball for Ching at the back left post. There, Ching got behind her defender and flicked it past the Portland State keeper with an outstretched left foot for the 1-0 lead.
Ching's goal was the third-fastest in school history and the fifth scored in under a minute, trailing only a goal by Lisa Wrightsman scored 36 seconds into a match at Northern Arizona in 2002 and
Danna Restom's goal just 38 seconds into the match at Northern Colorado on Sept. 24 of last season.
Dougherty's assist was her third of the year, tying her with teammate
Abigail Lopez for the team lead.
Turns out, that would be all the goals either team would see for the rest of the day as sophomore goalkeeper
Izzy Palmatier and the defense collected the team's fifth shutout of the season, albeit with a little help from the woodwork. The Vikings hit the post twice in the match and had another clang off the crossbar while Palmatier finished with six saves en route to her ninth career clean sheet, giving her sole possession of seventh on the school's all-time list, just one shy of Kristy Milanese (1998-99) for sixth.
Palmatier's 152 saves now rank ninth on the school's career list, passing Destiny Butcher (2014-16) and her 149 career stops.
All but five Hornets who saw playing time on Sunday finished with at least one shot attempt, led by four from Lopez and three each from
Sydney Sharts and
Ellie Farber. All told, Sacramento State finished with an 18-16 advantage in shots, putting seven of those on frame, and took six of the eight corner kicks in the contest.
