SACRAMENTO -- The Sacramento State men's soccer team kicks off the 2022 season in a big way this week, heading to the Pacific Northwest to take on last year's NCAA runner-up and No. 3-ranked Washington on Thursday, before hosting Bay Area rival San Jose State in its home opener on Sunday. Kickoff in Seattle is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., with the Hornets and Spartans clashing at 4 p.m. at Hornet Soccer Field.
THIS WEEK…
MATCH #1
WHAT: Sacramento State (0-0) at No. 3 Washington (0-0)
WHEN: Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022
TIME: 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Seattle, Wash.
STADIUM: Husky Soccer Stadium
WATCH: Pac-12 Live Stream
LIVE STATS: GoHuskies.com
GAME NOTES: Complete Sacramento State Weekly Release
MATCH #2
WHAT: San Jose State (0-0) at Sacramento State (0-0)
WHEN: Sunday, Aug. 28, 2022
TIME: 4 p.m.
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
STADIUM: Hornet Soccer Field
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: HornetStats.com
TICKETS: HornetSports.com
LET'S PLAY TWO!: Ernie Banks would be a fan. Sunday's match against San Jose State is the second match of a doubleheader with the Hornet women's team, which takes on Cal Poly at 1 p.m.
IN THE POLLS: Washington enters the week ranked No. 3 in the nation according to the preseason United Soccer Coaches poll released on Aug. 2... Both San Jose State and Sacramento State are unranked this week.
BE A FOLLOWER...: Fans can keep up with the latest in Sacramento State athletics by following us on Facebook (/SacramentoStateAthletics), Twitter (@HornetSports), and Instagram (@sacstateathletics). You can also follow the Hornets' men's soccer program on all three platforms: Instagram (@sacstatemsoccer), Twitter (@sacstmsoccer), and Facebook (/sacstatemsoccer).
WE'LL DO IT LIVE!...: Thursday's opener at Washington will be streamed live on the Huskies Pac-12 Network channel, while all Sacramento State home matches and those against Big West rivals are streamed live via the ESPN+ platform. Links are available on the men's soccer schedule page at HornetSports.com.
THE HORNETS, QUICKLY: Sacramento State is coming off a season that saw the Hornets battle for a Big West Tournament berth right up until the final match of the 2021 regular season, finishing 5-10-3 overall and 3-4-2 in league play. This is a veteran group that returns 18 letter winners and nine starters off of last year's squad, bolstered by a nine-member incoming class that includes a trio of Division I transfers from the likes of Santa Clara, UCLA, and San Diego State. All-Big West Conference honorable mention selections Titus Washington and Jaime Robles, along with all-freshman team honoree Jhared Willcot, rejoin the ranks as Sacramento State brings back its top four scorers from a season ago, including leading scorer sophomore Michael Gonzalez who paced the team with four goals and nine points in 2021.
PRESEASON PICKS: After narrowly missing out on a top-six finish and a Big West Conference Tournament berth in 2021, the Hornets were picked to finish fifth in the league in 2022 according to a vote of head coaches released on Aug. 19. Sacramento State garnered 46 total points to finish just one point behind UC Riverside in fourth and three back from UC Davis in third. Everyone is chasing UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine, which received 71 points each to tie for the top spot, but the Gauchos took home six first-place votes to three for the Anteaters.
SCOUTING WASHINGTON: The Huskies are coming off a stellar 2021 campaign that saw them finish 18-2-2 overall and 6-1-2 in the Pac-12, eventually making the NCAA Tournament championship match before falling to Clemson, 2-0... Washington is picked to win the Pac-12 in 2022, tied atop the league with Oregon State according to a vote of the league's head coaches... The Huskies return 22 players off of last season's squad, including two of their top four scorers in Gio MIglietti (six goals, two assists) and Lucas Meek (four goals, five assists)... Sam Fowler returns in net after starting 21 matches last year, posting a 0.74 goals against average, 62 saves, and a .795 save percentage, to go along with eight shutouts.
SERIES NOTES: Washington leads the all-time series with Sacramento State by an, 8-0, count, including a 4-0 mark in Seattle... Thursday marks the first meeting between the two programs since the Huskies posted a 4-0 win at home in 1999... Washington has surrendered only one goal to the Hornets in the history of the series dating back to 1991, that coming in a 3-1 decision in 1992 in Sacramento... The Huskies hold a 26-1 scoring advantage in the series' eight contests.
SCOUTING SAN JOSE STATE: The Spartans are coming off a fall 2021 campaign that saw them finish 10-7-3 overall and 7-2-2 in the Western Athletic Conference, falling to top-seeded Grand Canyon in the conference tournament semifinals... San Jose State was picked to finish sixth in the league's preseason poll behind Seattle U, which received eight of the 10 first-place votes... SJSU hosts CSU Bakersfield on Thursday (Aug. 25) before heading to Sacramento to take on the Hornets... The Spartans lost their top four scorers off of last season squad that accounted for 20 goals and 19 assists, with Finlay Wood (two goals, four assists) the leading returning point-scorer... Senior David Sweeney is the incumbent in net after starting 14 matches last year, posting a 1.68 goals against average, 65 saves, and a .739 save percentage, to go with four shutouts.
SERIES NOTES: In one of the longer-running series in the history of the program, San Jose State leads the all-time series with Sacramento State, 21-15-3, but the Hornets have won the last two meetings and six of the last eight overall... Each of Sacramento State's last two wins in the series have come on the road, including a 3-2 victory in 2021... The two teams haven't played in Sacramento since 2018 -- a 2-1 Spartan victory... The Hornets are 6-10-1 against SJSU at home, but have won two of the last three meetings in the Capital City dating back to 2014, and 5-2-1 in the eight meetings at home since 2008... The 39 head-to-head meetings are the most against any one opponent in program history according to yearly records that date back to 1991.
CONFERENCE CALL: Sacramento State is a combined 11-47-7 against the current Pac-12 men's soccer alignment... The Hornets are a combined 50-42-7 against the Western Athletic Conference men's soccer alignment, having faced all but three of the league's 10 members.
THAT'S RANK: When the Hornets take the field against No. 3 Washington on Thursday, it will mark the program's first match against a nationally ranked squad since facing then-No. 6 Saint Mary's on Sept. 29, 2019, and the highest ranked opponent since battling then No. 2 New Mexico on the road in 2011... The Hornets' last win over a ranked opponent came on Sept. 6, 2019, when they posted a 2-0 home victory over then-No. 25 Air Force.
LOOKING AHEAD: Following this week's contests, the Hornets take on another pair of local rivals, traveling to Moraga, Calif., to take on Saint Mary's on Sept. 1, before hosting Pacific three days later on Sept. 4. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.
FOR OPENERS: Historically, Sacramento State has been slow out of the gates to start a season dating back to 1991, posting a 6-20-3 record overall in season openers in that span... Thursday marks the fourth consecutive year, the 11th time in the last 12 seasons, and the 19th time in 30 season openers since 1991, that the Hornets have opened a campaign away from home... Sacramento State tied Portland (1-1) in 2018, defeated San Jose State (2-0) in 2019, and fell at San Francisco (2-1) in 2021, in its previous three... The Hornets have opened the season against Washington on one other occasion, falling to the Huskies at home to start the 1992 season... Sacramento State is 16-10-4 all time in home openers, but has lost three of its last four... It's last win in a home opener came against Air Force in 2019 by a 2-0 score... Each of the last seven home openers have been decided by two goals or fewer, including three one-goal decisions and a pair of draws.
WELCOME HOME, MAX!: The Sacramento State men's soccer team completed its coaching staff for 2022 by welcoming home one of its own, adding former Hornet standout Max Alvarez to the staff. Alvarez was a four-year letter winner for Sacramento State from 2009-12, helping his team to a pair of Mountain Pacific Sports Federation titles and two trips to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. He scored 20 career goals and assisted on 13 others before joining the professional ranks, playing for Tucson FC, Sacramento Republic FC, and Saint Louis FC, with a stop in San Jose to play for the Earthquakes on loan in 2016.
EXHIBITION LOOK BACK: Sacramento State closed out the preseason with a pair of strong performances, forging a 1-1 draw with NCAA qualifier Santa Clara on freshman Justin Faison's second-half equalizer, before handing Holy Names a 2-0 defeat on goals by Jaime Robles and Axel Ramirez.
