SACRAMENTO, Calif. — For the first -- and only -- time this season, the Sacramento State men's soccer team will play back-to-back matches at home this weekend as the Hornets host CSUN and UC Santa Barbara in Big West Conference play at Hornet Soccer Field. Sacramento State opens the week against the Matadors on Wednesday (Oct. 16) before welcoming the Gauchos on Saturday (Oct. 19). Both matches are scheduled for 3 p.m. kick-offs.
THIS WEEK…
MATCH #14
WHAT: CSUN (2-5-5, 0-2-2 Big West) at Sacramento State (4-7-2, 1-3 Big West)
WHEN: Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024
TIME: 3 p.m.
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
STADIUM: Hornet Soccer Field
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: HornetStats.com
TICKETS: HornetSports.com
MATCH #15
WHAT: UC Santa Barbara (8-2-3, 2-0-2 Big West) at Sacramento State (4-7-2, 1-3 Big West)
WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024
TIME: 3 p.m.
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
STADIUM: Hornet Soccer Field
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: HornetStats.com
TICKETS: HornetSports.com
GAME NOTES
Sacramento State | CSUN | UC Santa Barbara
IN THE RANKINGS
• UC Santa Barbara enters the week receiving eight votes in the most recent United Soccer Coaches poll
• It is the first opponent -- ranked or receiving votes -- from that poll for the Hornets since opening the 2023 season at No. 13 Portland on Aug. 25
• Sacramento State has lost its last five against nationally ranked opponents (or those receiving votes) since posting a 2-1 win at San Diego, which was receiving votes on Sept. 14, 2019
• The Hornets last defeated a ranked opponent when they upset No. 25 Air Force on Sept. 6, 2019, by a 2-0 score at home -- the last ranked opponent to visit Hornet Soccer Field
• Sacramento State also owns ranked wins over No. 15 Utah Valley (2016), No. 13 UC Santa Barbara (2015), No. 19 LMU (2011), No. 10 UC Irvine (2010), and No. 15 San Francisco (2009)
SCOUTING CSUN
• The Matadors enter the week with a 2-5-5 overall record and an 0-2-2 mark in Big West play
• CSUN is winless in its last five consecutive matches (0-2-3), alternating losses and draws over that stretch
• The Matadors haven't won since a 2-1 victory over Santa Clara on Sept. 22, and posted a win over then-No. 11 LMU (2-1) back on Aug. 25 as part of back-to-back matches against nationally ranked opponents to start the year
• CSUN is 1-4-1 on the road, with that win over the Lions standing as the lone victory
• Every Matador result has either ended in a draw or decided by a single goal
• Sophomores Michael Blevins and Jorge Solorzano share the team lead with three goals and seven points
• Sophomore goalkeeper Merrick Cook has played every minute in net, posting a 1.42 goals against average and 38 saves (.691 save percentage)
SERIES NOTABLES
• CSUN leads the all-time series with Sacramento State, 15-8-3
• The Matadors are unbeaten in the last three meetings (1-0-2) with the Hornets
• Since both have been members of the Big West (since 2012), the series is tied, 5-5-3
• CSUN leads the all-time series in Sacramento, 7-4
• Eight of the last 11 meetings have been decided by a single goal with three draws mixed in
• Sacramento State's last win in the series came in 2019 on the road, posting a 2-1 win in Northridge
• Neither team has scored more than two goals in match against the other since a 3-2 Matador win in overtime in 2017 in the Big West Tournament
SCOUTING UC SANTA BARBARA
• The Gauchos enter the week with an 8-2-3 overall record and a 2-0-2 mark in Big West play
• UCSB stands atop the conference standings alongside Cal State Bakersfield and Cal Poly with eight points apiece
• UC Santa Barbara hosts UC Davis on Wednesday before making the trip to Northern California
• The Gauchos are unbeaten in four matches (2-0-2) since the start of Big West play, outscoring opponents by a 5-2 count in that stretch
• UCSB's last loss was a 2-0 non-conference defeat against rival Cal Poly on the road on Sept. 28
• The Gauchos are 4-2-1 on the road this year
• Senior forward Alexis Ledoux leads the team with 10 goals, three assists, and 23 points in 13 matches, accounting for nearly half of the team's 24 goals
• Eleven different Gauchos have found the back of the net this season
• Senior goalkeeper David Mitzner has played every minute in net, posting a 0.69 goals against average (nine goals allowed) and 31 saves (.775 save percentage) to go with six shutouts
SERIES NOTABLES
• UC Santa Barbara leads the all-time series with Sacramento State, 18-5-4
• The Gauchos have won the last four meetings in the series -- all by shutout and outscoring the Hornets, 10-0, in that stretch
• Since both have been members of the Big West Conference (since 2012), UC Santa Barbara leads the series, 12-2-3
• Sacramento State's last win in the series came in 2019 at home, shutting out UCSB, 1-0
• In fact, the last six head-to-head meetings between the two programs have ended with a shutout, including a scoreless double-overtime draw in 2017
• Sacramento State hasn't scored a goal in the last 371:07 against UC Santa Barbara dating back to that 2019 victory
• Only two of the previous six meetings have been played in Sacramento, where the Gauchos hold a 7-4-1 lead in the series
• UCSB has won three of the last four meetings in Sacramento dating back to 2016
• The Hornets won three of the first four meetings between the two from 1992-97
WELCOME HOME
• In addition to playing at home in back-to-back matches for the first time all year, this week's matches will be only the fifth and sixth home contests of the season for the Hornets
• Entering the week, the four home matches thus far this season are the second-fewest in the Big West behind only UC Riverside, which has played three times at home
• Overall, the seven home matches in 2024 are the fewest for the Hornets since the 2018 squad played the same number on its home turf
• Three of those home matches will come prior to the start of Big West play — the third time in the last four seasons that Sacramento State will play so few non-conference contests at home
ON THE SPOT
• Sophomore Simon Vaca-Lorenzi converted from the penalty spot in the late stages of last week's match at Cal Poly, notching his first goal of the year and his first since scoring his first collegiate goal at Gonzaga on Aug. 27 last season
• The penalty was the second of the year for the Hornets, joining Hasan Alsakati's eventual game-winning score at Santa Clara on Sept. 19
• Vaca-Lorenzi's goal extended Sacramento State's streak of successful penalties to nine straight -- and 17 of its last 18 overall since 2014 -- dating back to a miss in the 86th minute against San Francisco on Sept. 23, 2018
YOU GET A GOAL! YOU GET A GOAL!
• Seven players have accounted for the Hornets' last 12 goals: Donovan Sessoms (4), Hasan Alsakati (2), Fernando Venegas (2), Vaca-Lorenzi, Stacy Holmes, Ethan Kelly, and Sean Battistessa
CLASS IS IN SESSOMS
• The second Hornet to finish with a brace this season (Fernando Venegas at Saint Mary's on Sept. 15), sophomore Donovan Sessoms powered the offense to a 2-1 win over UC Riverside on Oct. 5 for the team's first league win of the year
• Sessoms now has a team-high five goals on the year -- the most since Francisco Magana finished with five goals and 12 points in 2022
• A sixth goal for Sessoms this year would be the most since Christian Webb had five in 2017
• Sessoms' 10 points mark the third straight season that a Sacramento State player has accumulated double-digit points: Magana, Dominic Vegaalban, and Austin Wehner in 2022, and Wehner in 2023
WINNER WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER
• Sessoms has been in the right place at the right time numerous times this year as three of his five goals have gone for game winners (San Francisco, Saint Mary's, and UC Riverside)
• It marks the 17th straight season that the Hornets have had at least one player with multiple game-winners and the most since Alex Bettencourt and Nate Nugen had three in 2016
STOP! HALT! ARRET! ALTO! FERMA!
• You get the picture. One of the nation's top shot stoppers has picked up right where he left off in 2023, as senior goalkeeper Mac Learned's 64 saves and 4.92 saves per match are tops in the Big West, while his .753 save percentage stands third as of Oct. 14
• Entering the week, Learned ranks No. 3 in the NCAA in total saves behind leader Stockton Short of Utah Tech (80) and stands No. 7 in saves per game behind Niagara's Jamie Barry (7.18 per game)
• This after spending six straight weeks atop the NCAA leaderboard in total saves in 2023, finishing the year ranked No. 3 nationally with 88 saves and No. 7 in saves per game (5.50)
• The nine saves in the shutout of San Francisco on Sept. 12 were a season high and the second-highest total of his career, trailing on his 10 stops against the Dons on the road last year
• They also remain tied for the most by a Big West keeper this season, matching UC San Diego's Nolan Premack, who had nine stops against Duke on Aug. 25
• After last week, Learned's 184 career saves rank eighth on the school's all-time top 10 list, passing Ryan Curtis' (2018-19, 2021) and standing four back of Ryan Kenny (2006-09) for seventh
• With 16 more saves this year, Learned would become only the seven Hornet keeper to accumulate 200 career stops and the first since James Del Curto finished with 241 from 2013-17
HELP ME, HELP YOU
• Aside from penalties by Alsakati and Vaca-Lorenzi, only one of the Hornets' remaining 12 scores has gone unassisted (Donovan Sessoms' score at Saint Mary's on Sept. 15)
• Sophomore Zac Giles and senior Axel Ramirez lead the team with three assists each, standing just one back of Austin Wehner's and Cody Sundquist's team-high total from 2023
"POINT"-ING THE WAY
• Sean Battistessa's and Lucas Bost's first career points at Portland made then the seventh and eighth different Hornets to collect their first career goal or assist in 2024: Stacy Holmes (first career goal), Ethan Kelly (first career goal), Montgomery Carey (first career assist), Fernando Venegas (first career goal and assist), Vincent Padilla (first career assist), and Gio Ceja (first career assist)
• Meanwhile a ninth -- sophomore Donovan Sessoms -- has recorded his first career points as a Hornet this year after his first career goal came during his first year at UNLV in 2023
