SACRAMENTO -- Having played four of its last five on the road, the Sacramento State men's soccer team has a brief stay at home this week before making a return trip to Southern California as Big West Conference play rolls on. The Hornets host CSUN on Wednesday (Oct. 5) at 3 p.m., before heading south to take on UC Irvine on Saturday (Oct. 8) under the lights at 7 p.m.
THIS WEEK…
MATCH #12
WHAT: CSUN (4-3-3, 1-1 Big West) at Sacramento State (6-3-2, 1-1 Big West)
WHEN: Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022
TIME: 3 p.m.
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
STADIUM: Hornet Soccer Field
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: HornetSports.com
TICKETS: Buy Tickets
MATCH #13
WHAT: Sacramento State (6-3-2, 1-1 Big West) at UC Irvine (1-9-1, 1-1 Big West)
WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022
TIME: 7 p.m.
WHERE: Irvine, Calif.
STADIUM: Anteater Stadium
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: UCIrvineSports.com
IN THE POLLS: Neither Sacramento State, CSUN, nor UC Irvine, are listed among this week's national polls... In the United Soccer Coaches Far West Region poll, the Hornets dropped two spots to No. 7 in the region following last week's results, after reaching as high as No. 4 in the region on Sept. 20... Sacramento State has been among the top 10 in the region for each of the last four weeks... CSUN is ranked No. 9 in the Far West Region poll, up one spot from last week and has been ranked among the top 10 in the region every week this season, reaching as high as No. 4 on Sept. 6... Sacramento State and CSUN are among a group of five Big West schools in the region's top 10 this week along with No. 3 UC Santa Barbara, No. 8 Cal State Fullerton, and No. 10 UC San Diego.
THAT'S RANK: Sacramento State's appearance in the Sept. 20 United Soccer Coaches national poll marked only the seventh time that the Hornets have been among that group according to the organization's archive that dates back to 1996, and the first since they received six votes on Aug. 30, 2011. Sacramento State has twice finished the year receiving votes nationally in 2009 and 2010, including a program-high seven votes at the end of the 2010 campaign.
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!: This week's matches against CSUN and UC Irvine will be streamed live on the ESPN+ subscription platform. Links to watch and for live stats for all matches throughout the season will be posted, as soon as they are available, on the men's soccer schedule page at HornetSports.com.
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 CSUN: The Matadors enter the week with a 4-3-3 overall record and a 1-1 mark in Big West play after defeating UC Riverside (1-0) and falling to UC Santa Barbara (4-0) to open conference play... Their goal against the Highlanders was only their second in the last six matches as CSUN has been outscored 17-8 this year... Sophomore Jamar Ricketts leads the team with three goals and eight points overall, while six different players have found the back of the net... Goalkeeper Cooper Wenzel has played every minute of the season between the pipes, making 42 saves with a .712 save percentage and three shutouts.
SERIES NOTES: CSUN leads the all-time series with Sacramento State, 13-7-2, but the Hornets are unbeaten in their last three against the Matadors, winning by a 2-1 score in 2018 and 2019, while posting a 2-2 draw last season... Wednesday marks the first meeting between the two in Sacramento since 2018 as five of the last seven have been played in Northridge... Seven of the last nine meetings have all been decided by a single goal with a pair of draws mixed in... CSUN leads the series in Sacramento, 6-3, but the Hornets have won the last two in 2017 and 2018.
SCOUTING UC IRVINE: The Anteaters have played the second-toughest schedule among Big West members and the 33rd most difficult in the nation (as of Oct. 2) en route to an uncharacteristic 1-9-1 record and 1-1 start in league... UC Irvine defeated Cal State Fullerton (3-2) and fell at Cal Poly (2-1) to start conference play last week... The win over Fullerton snapped a six-match losing streak... Freshman Agaton Pourshahidi leads the team with three goals and six points, while Ricardo Ibarra leads the team with three assists... Goalkeeper Luke Pruter has played every minute in net this year, posting a 1.82 goals against average and 45 saves.
SERIES NOTES: UC Irvine narrowly leads the all-time series with Sacramento State by a 9-8-4 count, but the Hornets posted a 3-2 win at home in 2021 and is 3-1-2 against the Anteaters in the last six... Saturday marks the first meeting between the two in Irvine since 2018, and the Anteaters lead the all-time series, 7-4, in Southern California, winning three of the last four... Sacramento State's last win in Irvine was a 2-1 triumph in 2016.
CONFERENCE CALL: Sacramento State is a combined 55-98-22 against its Big West Conference rivals since 2012, posting its highest win totals against Cal Poly and UC Davis -- both with nine.
NOT A MATTER OF IF, BUT WINS: Sacramento State's 1-0 shutout of CSU Bakersfield in its Big West opener gave the Hornets their sixth victory of the season -- the most for the program since the 2019 squad posted seven victories. A win on Wednesday against CSUN would improve Sacramento State to 4-1-1 at home this year -- the highest home win total since the 2016 team finished 6-3-1 at Hornet Soccer Field.
CODY COMES THROUGH: Junior Cody Sundquist added his name to a lengthy list of Hornet goal scorers this season, scoring his first goal in the green and gold to beat CSU Bakersfield and adding the opener against UC San Diego three nights later.
BACK-TO-BACK: Sundquist's goals in back-to-back matches last weekend marked the fourth time this year that a Hornet has found the back of the net in two straight matches along with: Dominic Vegaalban vs. San Jose State and at Saint Mary's, Francisco Magana vs. LMU and Gonzaga, as well as Michael Gonzalez at UNLV and vs. San Francisco. A goal by Sundquist against CSUN would make him the first Hornet to score in three straight matches since Ivan Ramirez from Sept. 18-24, 2016, against San Jose State, Utah Valley, and Saint Mary's.
AXEL ON THE BOARD: Following in Sundquist's footsteps, sophomore midfielder Axel Ramirez came through with his first goal of the season as part of a wild second half at UC San Diego, scoring inside the 18 to tie the match at 2-2. The goal was Ramirez's third of his career and his first since scoring against UC Irvine nearly one year earlier to the day.
SPREAD THE WEALTH: Sacramento State has had 10 different players score goals this season -- tied for the second-most among Big West schools with UC Santa Barbara and behind Cal State Fullerton (14) -- while seven different Hornets have found the back of the net multiple times to lead the league in that category, two more than the Titans, who have five.
WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER: Six different Hornets have accounted for the game-winning scores in each of the team's six victories this season: Dominic Vegaalban (San Jose State), Austin Wehner (Saint Mary's), Christo Cervantes (LMU), Francisco Magana (Gonzaga), Jaime Robles (Utah Tech), and Cody Sundquist (CSU Bakersfield), while Vegaalban, Wehner, Genaro Alfaro, and Alejandro Padilla have tallied game-winning assists. Dating back to last year, Sacramento State's last eight game-winners have been scored by eight different players when you add Titus Washington's winner versus UC San Diego and Alejandro Alcantra's score against Cal State Fullerton.
FIRST!: The Hornets have gotten off to a strong start by scoring first in eight of their 11 matches thus far this season -- and 10 of their last 13 dating back to last year -- posting a 6-1-1 record in those contests in 2022 after suffering their first such loss at UC San Diego last week. The eight "first goals" this season are tied for the most in the Big West with Cal State Fullerton entering the week.
THAT'S OFFENSIVE: And we mean that in a good way. After one week of league action, Sacramento State ranks among the top three in the Big West in a number of offensive categories, including: shots (2nd), shots per game (2nd), shots on goal (2nd), points (3rd), points per game (3rd), goals scored (3rd), and goals per game (3rd).
CORNERED: The Hornets enter this week's Big West contests with a league-high 62 corners on the season, averaging 5.64 per contest (No. 58 in the NCAA) through the team's 11 matches. Sacramento State earned 11 corners in its 2-2 draw at UNLV on Sept. 18 -- the most in a single match since collecting 14 against William Jessup on Sept. 24, 2010, and the most against a Division I opponent since posting 13 against Loyola Marymount a week earlier on Sept. 17, 2010.
ON THE SPOT: Michael Gonzalez's penalty against San Francisco on Sept. 22 was the team's first of the season and the first by a Hornet since Eloge Iradukunda converted with 39 seconds remaining against Cal State Fullerton on Oct. 23, 2021. The Hornets are a perfect six for their last six from the spot dating back to a miss on Sept. 23, 2018, on the road against, coincidentally, San Francisco.
TWO (OR THREE, OR FOUR) ARE BETTER THAN ONE: The Hornets have scored multiple goals in six of their first 11 matches, while surrendering multiple goals only four times against Gonzaga, UNLV, San Francisco, and UC San Diego. To compare, the Hornets had only six multiple-goal matches over 18 contests in all of 2021.
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: Jaime Robles' second goal of the season couldn't have come at a better time for the Hornets as his header off a Genaro Alfaro free kick in the 89th minute was the difference in a 1-0 win at Utah Tech on Sept. 16. It was the latest goal (88:29 to be exact) scored in regulation by a Sacramento State player since Eloge Iradukunda converted a penalty against Cal State Fullerton with 39 seconds remaining on Oct. 23 of last season, and the latest regulation game-winner since Alex Bettencourt scored at the 89:15 mark to defeat Portland, 2-1, on Sept. 15, 2016.
HIGH FIVE?: Following his hat trick performance by Gonzaga back on Sept. 11, a fifth goal by Francisco Magana (or anyone else for that matter) this season would be the most by a Hornet since Benji Kikanovic and Dominic Scotti finished with five apiece in 2018.
SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS... EVERYBODY!: Francisco Magana's hat trick against Gonzaga on Sept. 11 came on seven total shots in the match -- six of those on frame as the junior continuously threatened to put more in the back of the net. The seven attempts matched Dominic Vegaalban's seven shots against San Jose State on Aug. 28 for the most by a Hornet this year and the most for a Sacramento State player in nine years dating back to Edwin Luna's eight in a 1-1 draw with San Francisco on Sept. 12, 2013. The Hornets tied their season high with 20 shots as a team at CSU Bakersfield on Sept. 28 -- matching the 20 against Gonzaga and the most since it took 20 against CSUN on Oct. 6 of last season -- while Magana's six shots on goal against Gonzaga were the most since Isaac Flores finished with seven (of his 12 overall) against William Jessup on Sept. 9, 2011.
MORE FOR MAGANA: Magana's six shots on goal shares the national single-match lead with Tulsa's Malik Henry-Scott, who scored twice and put all six of his attempts on goal against UMKC on Sept. 2, Portland's CJ Tibbling, who scored four times against Utah Tech on Sept. 25, putting six of his nine shots on frame, and Wright State's Reece Allbaugh, who put six of his eight attempts on goal, but did not score.
HAT TRICK HOOPLA: Magana's hat trick is one of 28 in the NCAA entering this week's contests and the first by a Big West Conference player since UC Davis' Maximilian Arfsten did so against San Francisco on Sept. 22 of last year. Magana's six points are ranked tied for second on the school's single-match list as he leads the team with four goals and nine points, matching teammate Michael Gonzalez's team-high four goals last year.
