GREELEY, Colo. — Junior Tea Reyes squeaked her third goal of the season past the Northern Colorado goalkeeper in the 88th minute for the only score of the match on Thursday night, helping lift the Sacramento State women's soccer team to a 1-0 victory over the host Bears in Greeley, Colo.
The match was the Big Sky Conference opener for both programs as the Hornets improved to 5-6 overall on the year and 1-0 in league play, winning for the first time in Greeley, Colo., since a 1-0 win in 2019. Thursday's victory also kept Sacramento State unbeaten in its last seven (4-0-3) Big Sky regular season matches dating back to a loss at Eastern Washington on Sept. 29 of last season.
With the loss, UNC fell to 1-7-4 overall and 0-1 in conference.
Reyes, who put four of her five attempts on frame for the night, finally broke the scoreless deadlock with just under three minutes to play in the match. The San Jose, Calif., native received a pass in the box on the right side, took a touch to her left that got her defender off-balance, and curled a left-footed shot toward the middle of the net.
The Bears' goalkeeper was in position to make the save, but Reyes' attempt had enough English on it that it spun out of her hands, through her legs, and into the net for the game-winner, setting off the celebration for the Hornets.
Sacramento State finished with 14 shots for the match, putting six of those on frame, while Northern Colorado had 17 attempts, but could manage only four on goal.
Junior goalkeeper
Izzy Palmatier won her fourth match of the year — all via the shutout — thanks to her four-save night, keeping her in fourth place on the all-time saves list while keeping a clean sheet for the 15th time in her career.
Meanwhile, the defense limited the Bears' leading scorer, Lexi Tuite, to just two shots on the night after she entered the match with a team-high four goals.
The Hornets return to action with their conference home opener on Sunday (Sept. 28) at 1 p.m., welcoming Northern Arizona to Sacramento. The Lumberjacks played host to Montana on Thursday night, but the start of the match had been delayed by weather at press time.
