SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sophomore Ellie Farber scored the game winner in the 20th minute and senior Abigail Lopez finished with a pair of assists to back the defense's third shutout of the season on Sunday afternoon as host Sacramento State posted a 3-0 victory over Weber State.
The Hornets won their second straight to improve to 4-6-3 overall and 2-2 in Big Sky Conference play, keeping their unbeaten home record intact at 4-0-2 this season. The Wildcats fell to 1-9-5 overall and 0-2-1 in league play.
Coupled with its 4-1 victory over Idaho State on Friday (Oct. 4), Sacramento State combined for seven goals by five different players (including an own goal) on the weekend — the most since it scored the same number against the same two opponents on Oct. 13 and Oct. 15, 2017. That year, the Hornets defeated the Bengals, 6-3, while battling the Wildcats to a double-overtime 1-1 draw.
It also marked the first time that Sacramento State scored at least three goals in back-to-back matches for the first time since a 4-3 loss to Nevada and a 9-0 shutout of Menlo College on Sept 10 and Sept. 12, 2010.
Farber's eventual game-winning strike came in the 20th minute as Candace Ching got things started by winning the ball near the near sideline. Ching got to her feet and charged toward the 18 where she sent a pass across the top of the box to a waiting Farber.
There, the sophomore from Redding, Calif., wasted little time, taking a touch and unleashing a shot inside the left post for the 1-0 lead.
Ten minutes later, Sydney Sharts doubled the Hornets' advantage with her second goal in as many contests, heading home a chipped ball from Lopez at the top of the six back to the right post to make it 2-0.
The score stayed that way until the 81st minute when senior Ariana Scholten capped the scoring with her second goal of the season. Senior Ali Fuamatu-Ma'afala volleyed a goal kick upfield where Lopez was able to run onto it and find a wide-open Scholten inside the 18. Scholten did not miss from there, settling the ball with a touch and sneaking it under a diving Weber State goalkeeper for the final 3-0 score.
With her two assists on the day, Lopez now has a career-high three helpers to go with three goals on the year for nine points, standing just one shy of her career high of 10 points set as a freshman. The senior from Elk Grove, who had a goal in Friday's win over Idaho State, now has 14 career scores to go with seven assists for 35 points — just one shy of former teammate Aubrey Goodwill (2018-22) for 10th on the all-time list.
Meanwhile, the defense stood tall, limiting Weber State to just four shots on goal as sophomore goalkeeper Izzy Palmatier finished with her third clean sheet of the season and the seventh of her career. She now has sole possession of ninth on the school's all-time list in that category, trailing both Jenny Lawrence (2005-08) and Amy Seely (2000-02) by just one for seventh.
The Hornets remain home for only one match next week, welcoming Northern Colorado to Northern California on Sunday (Oct. 13) at 1 p.m.
