EUGENE, Ore. — Sophomore Izzy Palmatier finished with a match-high 10 saves on the afternoon to keep her side close, but host Oregon netted goals in each half on Sunday en route to a 2-0 shutout victory over Sacramento State at Pape Field in Eugene.
Palmatier finished with double-digit stops in a match for the second straight week, following up her career-high 11 save performance against Cal Poly last week with her third career double-digit save match against the Ducks on Sunday. The sophomore keeper from Folsom, Calif., had entered the day ranked No. 4 in the Big Sky in both overall saves (23) and saves per match (4.60 spg), improving on both totals following Sunday's busy day.
Oregon was on the board first in the 22nd minute as Makoto Nezu converted on a penalty kick opportunity to the left side of the net after a Duck was taken down in the box on a breakaway, drawing a red card and putting the Hornets down a woman for the rest of the match.
Despite playing down a player, Sacramento State weathered the storm quite well thanks to its defense and Palmatier, who stopped two more shots in the remainder of the first half and watched as five more sailed wide of the frame.
The Hornets came out of the locker room firing as junior Madelyn Dougherty put one of her two shots on frame just two minutes in and sophomore Teysha-Ray Spinney-Kuahuia added another that missed high as Sacramento State pushed for the equalizer.
Meanwhile, at the other end, Palmatier made two more stops in the first 10 minutes and saved two more attempts after getting some help from the crossbar on a shot by Livvy Moore to keep it a one-goal match.
Oregon finally broke through for its second goal in the 86th minute off a corner kick that hung inside in the six until Haley McWhirter was able to push it across the line for the final score of the contest.
Sacramento State returns home on Thursday (Sept. 12) at 1 p.m., hosting CSUN in the first match of a doubleheader with the Hornets' men's team, which welcomes San Francisco for a 4 p.m. kick-off later in the day.
