SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Senior Abigail Lopez's first goal of the season — a well-timed flick off the right foot with less than 10 minutes remaining in the match — was enough to put Sacramento State in the win column on Thursday afternoon, lifting the Hornets to a 1-0 victory over visiting CSUN at Hornet Soccer Field.
The victory snapped a two-match skid for Sacramento State, which improved to 2-3-2 overall on the year, and ended a seven-match unbeaten streak (6-0-1) by the Matadors in the series, earning its first win against CSUN since Oct. 17, 1997 — a 3-1 triumph at home.
All three of the Hornets' wins in the series have come at home.
The Matadors, who held a slim 16-13 advantage in shots and a 7-2 lead in shots on goal, fell to 1-6 overall on the year, suffering their third consecutive defeat.
Both sides battled to a scoreless stalemate until the 81st minute when Sacramento State was able to corral a misclear by the CSUN defense. Senior Erika Tilford brought the ball to her feet and made a short pass to Ali Fuamatu-Ma'afala, who took a touch before sending a ball into the box.
With two defenders closing quickly, Lopez was able to get around the ball and flick it on frame with her right foot, sending it past a leaping Matador keeper to the right side for what turned out to be the only score of the day.
The goal for Lopez was the 12th of her career, putting her within one of breaking into the school's all-time top 10 in that category while placing her seven points shy of that top-10 list. It was Tilford's second career assist as a Hornet while Fuamatu-Ma'afala tallied her first career point in the green and gold.
Sophomore goalkeeper
Izzy Palmatier and the rest of the Hornet defense then locked things down the rest of the way with Palmatier finishing with seven saves on the afternoon en route to her second shutout of the season.
Lopez finished with six of Sacramento State's 13 shot attempts on the afternoon while teammate
Ariana Scholten added three more. Cailey Jackson led CSUN with five shot attempts, three of those on frame.
Sacramento State concludes the week by opening a run of four-straight matches away from home on Sunday (Sept. 15) at 1 p.m., taking on Cal State Bakersfield in Southern California.
