SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento State sophomore goalkeeper Izzy Palmatier finished with a career-high 11 saves in recording her first clean sheet of the season as the homestanding Hornets and visiting Cal Poly battled to a scoreless draw on Thursday afternoon at Hornet Soccer Field.
The result kept Sacramento State unbeaten in its last three matches overall, moving to 1-1-2 overall on the year, while recording its second straight draw against a Big West Conference opponent following a 1-1 tie with UC Santa Barbara last week. The Mustangs, meanwhile, remained winless on the year, moving to 0-2-2 overall with Thursday's result.
For Palmatier, it was the Folsom, Calif., native's second career match with 10-or-more saves as her 11 stops against Cal Poly surpassed her previous career high of 10 set at Weber State on Oct. 13 of last season. She stopped five shots in the first half and followed that up with six saves in the second 45 minutes while also helping to successfully defend six Mustang corners.
Thursday's performance by Palmatier put her just one shy of the program's all-time single-match top 10 and were the most by a Hornet keeper since Mia Shalit finished with the same number against Northern Arizona on Oct. 21, 2022.
All five of Palmatier's first-half saves came in the first 26 minutes of the match as the Mustangs' offense peppered the Sacramento State goal with 10 shots — most from distance — in the first half.
Junior Madelyn Dougherty had one of the best chances for the Hornets in the opening period, as her attempt off a short corner nearly bent in at the back right post, but a Cal Poly defender was on the spot to head it away from danger on the line.
Seniors Danna Restom and Abigail Lopez also put attempts on frame in the first half, but both were saved by Mustang keeper Riley Wilkerson, who also posted her first shutout of the season.
Cal Poly came out the aggressor to start the second half with the first three shots of the period in a five-minute span, with Palmatier securing the final two. The sophomore keeper stopped another in the 55th minute sandwiched inbetween shots by Lopez and Ariana Scholten for the Hornets, as neither team was able to dent the net the rest of the way.
The Mustangs finished with an 18-9 shot advantage — including an 11-3 lead in shots on goal — while the two programs stayed close in corners with Cal Poly edging out Sacramento State, 6-5. Lopez, Ellie Farber, and Dougherty all finished with two shot attempts apiece to lead the Hornets.
Having closed out a run of three straight at home, Sacramento State hits the road for the Pacific Northwest next week, traveling to Portland on Thursday (Sept. 5) before taking on Oregon on Sunday (Sept. 8).
