SACRAMENTO, California — Second semester at Sacramento State Ellie Farber finished the game with a goal and an assist, Madelyn Dougherty and in the second year of study Teysha-Ray Spinney-Kuahuia also found the back of the net on Saturday afternoon, helping the Hornets to a 3-1 victory over Houston Christian in their home opener.

Sacramento State picked up a win for the first time this season and improved its overall record to 1-1 on the year, while the Huskies fell to 0-2 after a 2-1 loss at Pacific on Thursday.

For Farber, it was the first goal of her college career and her three-point day was also a career-best, surpassing her two-assist game at Northern Colorado on Sept. 24 of last season. Dougherty, whose goal proved to be the game-winner, scored the second goal of her career, while Spinney-Kuahuia scored the third goal of her time in green and gold.

The three goals were a season high for the team and the most since the Hornets scored four goals in a 4-2 home win over Eastern Washington on October 10, 2021. It was also the team’s first multi-goal game since a 2-2 tie with the Bears last September.

Farber brought her team into the lead in the 22nd minute with a perfectly placed pass from Abigail Lopez when she received a cross from Lopez from the right and shot the ball with her right foot over the HCU goalkeeper to make it 1-0.

Thirteen minutes later, Dougherty made it two goals in the 35th minute, converting a ball in the scrum that the Huskies defense couldn’t clear. Doughtery found the loose ball at the top of the 18, touched it to the left and sent a shot through the scrum and past the Houston Christian goalie to the right side for a 2-0 lead.

Shortly before the end of the first half, the Huskies were able to catch up again after a corner and halve the deficit. Alexa Huerta’s corner kick seemed to go in, but was shot from the air to the feet of Jessica Marker, who buried the rebound through traffic to make it 2-1.

After the break, the Hornets were able to pull one back in the 73rd minute when Spinney-Kuahuia got on the scoresheet. Farber intercepted an easy pass in midfield, sprinted forward and timed the ball perfectly to her teammate. Spinney-Kuahuia ran at the ball and beat the goalkeeper one-on-one into the middle of the net, making the final score 3-1.

Sacramento State had a 20-15 edge in shot attempts, including a 9-2 edge in shots on goal. Lopez and Spinney-Kuahuia each had four shots to lead the Hornets, including three on goal by Spinney-Kuahuia, while six over players finished the day with multiple attempts.

The Hornets offense’s 20 shots were the most since their win over Eastern Washington on Oct. 6 of last season, when they fired 21 shots.

A streak of three straight home games continues next week when Sacramento State hosts UC Santa Barbara on Thursday (Aug. 22) at 1 p.m. in the first game of a doubleheader with the men’s team hosting Utah Valley at 5 p.m.