The Hornets ended a two-game tying streak with a 4-1 victory over the Rustlers on Tuesday at home.

In the first half, Hornets midfielder Regina Sanchez-Molina scored the first goal off a corner kick giving the Hornets a 1-0 lead.

Golden West increased defensive pressure but the Hornets pressed harder toward the net.

Hornets forward Morgan Dack, in a quick offensive drive to the Rustlers goal, bounced an assist from sophomore Kaelah Basurto off her head putting the Hornets 2-0 over Golden West.

Despite the Hornets early offensive drive, the Rustlers fought back with forward Ana Sophia Rodriguez scoring an unassisted goal at the 36:00 mark cutting Fullerton’s lead 2-1.

At the end of the first half, the Hornets had a slim lead over the Rustlers 2-1.

The Hornet offense kept striking with Dack scoring a goal from a Basurto assist, extending the Hornets lead to 3-1.

Hornets capitalized on another opportunity with an assist from Dack, Basurto slipped a goal past the diving Rustlers goalie Ashlee Garcia, giving the Hornets the final score of 4-1.

On the other hand, tough matches like Tuesday’s against the Rustlers gave the Hornets an opportunity to develop a stronger and faster offensive strategy.

“There’s a couple times where I think that we slowed down and definitely could have kept our energy up and played faster and played to feet,” said Basurto, who had the most assists in the game. “I think playing to feet is super important because there were more than a couple times where we turned over the ball.”

Although the Hornets experienced some difficulty pulling together a strong offense, the consistent substitutions and substantial amount of bench players ultimately exhausted the limited Rustler roster.

It was a big victory for the Hornets as they are expected to play more challenging teams in the OEC such as Cypress College, ranked No. 3 in state. Santiago Canyon College and Saddleback are both tied for third place in conference.

“Fullerton still controls their own destiny at this point,” stated Hornets head coach Pamela Lewin. “We’re in a conference where any team can be a spoiler.”

The Fullerton College Hornets will play next on Friday, Oct. 25 at 3 p.m. at Orange Coast College.