SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento State sophomore Ellie Farber finished with a goal and an assist while junior Madelyn Dougherty and sophomore Teysha-Ray Spinney-Kuahuia also found the back of the net on Saturday afternoon, lifting the Hornets to a 3-1 win over Houston Christian in their home opener.
Into the win column for the first time this season, Sacramento State improved to 1-1 overall on the year, while the Huskies fell to 0-2 following a 2-1 loss at Pacific on Thursday.
For Farber, it was the first goal of her collegiate career and her three-point day was also a career best, topping her two-assist match at Northern Colorado on Sept. 24 of last season. Dougherty, whose goal proved to be the game-winner, notched the second score of her career while Spinney-Kuahuia tallied the third goal of her time in the green and gold.
As a team, the three goals were a season high and the most since the Hornets put home four goals in a 4-2 win at home against Eastern Washington back on Oct. 10, 2021. It was also the team's first multi-goal match since the 2-2 draw against the Bears last September.
Farber put her team on the board first in the 22nd minute off a perfectly placed pass by Abigail Lopez as she connected on a cross by Lopez from the right side and chipped the ball over the HCU goalkeeper with her right foot for the 1-0 lead.
Thirteen minutes later, Dougherty made it a two-goal advantage in the 35th minute converting on a ball in traffic that was unable to be cleared by the Huskies' defense. Doughtery found the loose ball at the top of the 18, took a touch to the left and sent a shot through traffic and past the Houston Christian keeper to the right side for a 2-0 lead.
The Huskies were able to pull a goal back just before the end of the first half off a corner to cut the deficit in half. Alexa Huerta's corner kick looked like it was going to curl in before it was knocked out of the air to the feet of Jessica Marker, who stuffed in the rebound through traffic to make it 2-1.
After the break, the Hornets were able to pull the goal back in the 73rd minute as Spinney-Kuahuia put her name in the scoring column. Farber intercepted a soft pass at midfield and sprinted forward, sending a perfectly timed ball ahead for her teammate. Spinney-Kuahuia ran onto the ball and beat the goalkeeper 1-v-1 to the middle of the net for the final 3-1 advantage.
Sacramento State held a 20-15 advantage in shot attempts, including a 9-2 lead in shots on goal. Lopez and Spinney-Kuahuia each had four shots to lead the Hornets, including three of those on frame by the latter, while six over players ended the day with multiple attempts.
The 20 shots by the Hornets' offense were the most since they finished with 21 in a win over Eastern Washington on Oct. 6 of last season.
A run of three straight home contests continues next week as Sacramento State plays host to UC Santa Barbara on Thursday (Aug. 22) at 1 p.m. in the first match of a doubleheader with the men's team, which hosts Utah Valley at 5 p.m.
