SACRAMENTO — The 2023 regular season comes to a close for the Sacramento State men's soccer team this weekend as the Hornets head across the Causeway to take on rival UC Davis on Saturday night (Oct. 28) at 7 p.m. The match will be played at UC Davis Health Stadium, home of the Aggies' football team, instead of Aggie Soccer Field.
THIS WEEK…
GAME NOTES: Sacramento State | UC Davis
MATCH #18
WHAT: Sacramento State (3-10-4, 0-4-4 Big West) at UC Davis (7-6-3, 4-3-1 Big West)
WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023
TIME: 7 p.m.
WHERE: Davis, Calif.
STADIUM: UC Davis Health Stadium
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: HornetStats.com
TICKETS: Buy Tickets
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 Instagram (@sacstatemsoccer) and Twitter (@sacstmsoccer).
WE'LL DO IT LIVE!: Every home match during the 2023 regular season will be streamed live on the ESPN+ subscription platform, with select road contests available on various streaming platforms. Links to watch and for live stats for all matches will be posted, as soon as they are available, on the men's soccer schedule page at HornetSports.com.
SCOUTING UC DAVIS: The Aggies enter the final week of the regular season with a 7-6-3 overall record and a 4-3-1 mark in Big West play, clinching one of the six conference tournament berths... UC Davis won both of its contests last week, shutting out CSU Bakersfield (2-0) before edging out UC San Diego (2-1) on the road... The Aggies are just 1-5-1 at home this season, going winless in their last three (0-2-1) dating back to a 3-0 win over San Jose State back on Sept. 24... Saturday marks the second match that will be played at UC Davis Health Stadium this year as the Aggies fell to UC Santa Barbara on Oct. 4 by a 2-1 score... Sophomore forward Cason Goodman leads the way offensively with a team-high six goals and 15 points, while senior midfielder Ryan Dieter has accounted for six of the team's 17 assists... Goalkeeper Charles Janssen has played all but 35 minutes, owning a 1.09 goals against average and 50 saves (.746 save percentage).
SERIES NOTABLES: UC Davis leads the all-time series with rival Sacramento State by a 22-12-2 count... The Aggies, who posted a 2-1 victory in Sacramento last season, have won the last eight straight meetings in the series dating back to a 2-1 Hornet win on Oct. 22, 2016... Sacramento State is 6-10-1 all time in matches played in Davis, but haven't won there since that triumph in 2016, winning the last four straight... The last six meetings between the two rivals have all been decided by a single goal -- including a pair of overtime contests.
LONG TIME LISTENER, LONG TIME RIVAL: Saturday's head-to-head meeting with UC Davis will mark the 37th meeting between the rivals according to available records that date back to 1986 -- the second-longest running rivalry in that span in school history behind only the 45 all-time meetings between former MPSF rivals Sacramento State and San Jose State. The Hornets and Aggies have met every year since the 2004 season (excluding the 2020 campaign that was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic) after the two teams played just once from 1994-2003.
HE'S (STILL) NUMBER ONE!: For the sixth consecutive week, Learned reigns atop the NCAA stats in total saves (88) while making a short drop to fourth nationally in saves per game (5.50) and standing No. 34 in save percentage (.786). In addition to his national standing, Learned's save total is 24 better than the next goalkeeper in the Big West (Carlos Gonzalez of UC Riverside) and leads the league by just over a save and a half per game.
BLOCK IT OUT: Learned is putting together one of the busiest seasons in Sacramento State men's soccer history as his 88 saves this season are the most since Cesar Castillo finished with 99 in 2013 and now rank ninth on the school's single-season list, passing the 86 saves by both Ryan Duncan in 1998 and Gary Davis in 1994, while standing one shy of Matt McDougall's 2005 total of 89 that ranks eighth.
HORNETS IN THE BIG WEST...
• Austin Wehner and Dominic Vegaalban are tied for ninth in the league with their four goals apiece
• Wehner and Sundquist are tied for seventh in the league with their four assists
• Wehner's 12 points this year are tied for 10th in the conference
• In addition to his save total, Learned ranks seventh in goals against average (1.55) and leads the league with a .786 save percentage
CORNERED: Putting pressure on opposing back lines, the Hornets have been able to earn a total of 94 corners on the year -- a total that ranks second in the Big West behind only Cal State Fullerton (103). The team's 10 corners against the Titans on Oct. 14 are a season high.
PAYING THE PENALTY: There's still a chance, but the Hornets enter the regular season finale having not attempted a penalty this season. Should they finish Saturday against UC Davis without one, it would be the first time since the 2000 campaign that Sacramento State has finished a year without at attempt. In the 22 seasons since then, the Hornets are a combined 40-for-48 (.833) from the spot. Meanwhile, opponents are a combined 49-of-64 (.766) in that same span.
READY? DRAW!: Since the start of Big West play, Sacramento State has been all tied up in four of its six league contests -- the most in conference play in the program's Big West era (since 2012) and the most in conference play since the 2010 squad finished with a 2-2-6 mark in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The four draws overall are the most since the 2013 squad finished with the same number and are three shy of the overall record set by that 2010 squad, which finished 11-5-7 overall.
GUERRA STEPS IN: Entering the match against UC Irvine after a red card forced Mac Learned from the match, sophomore goalkeeper Edgar Guerra finished with five stops in only 23 minutes against the Anteaters -- tied for the second-highest single-match total in his career and the most since he stopped nine shots in a win at Cal State Fullerton last season. It was Guerra's first appearance since a start at Gonzaga on Aug. 27, when he finished with four saves against the Bulldogs.
AUSTIN AUSTIN AUSTIN! OI OI OI!: Make it four for forward Austin Wehner, who connected on his fourth score of the season to give the Hornets the early lead at CSUN on Oct. 7, tying him for the team lead. Add in his four assists on the year and Wehner's 12 points have surpassed his total from all of 2022 (11) and are the most points since teammate Francisco Magana's team-high 12 points last year.
DOUBLE-DIGITS FOR AUS"TEN": After finishing the 2022 campaign with 11 points (four goals and three assists), Wehner is the first Hornet to post back-to-back seasons with at least 10 points since Max Alvarez did so with 15 points in 2011 and 10 more in 2012. For his career in the green and gold, Wehner now has 23 points on eight goals and seven assists -- tying Magana for the most in a career among active Hornets.
PUTTING THE "A" IN ALFARO: Genaro Alfaro's assist on Wehner's score against the Matadors marked his third of the season and put him one back of the team lead. The three assists matches his single-season career high, while his eight career helpers are the most among active Hornets.
MINUTE MEN: Senior midfielder Cody Sundquist hasn't missed many minutes on the field this year, as his 1,394 minutes played rank eighth among Big West field players. Sundquist has gone a full 90 a total of 11 times this season and has two more matches with 86 minutes played. Sundquist and his 11 matches with 90 minutes lead the team and stand three clear of Jaime Robles and Bryan Gutierrez and their eight "complete games." Along the same lines, goalkeeper Mac Learned's 1,397 minutes in net enter the week ranked 10th in the NCAA.
"I WILL FIND YOU...": And I will pass it to you. We're paraphrasing here, but senior Cody Sundquist has made good on that, notching his fourth assist of the year against CSU Bakersfield, tying him with Wehner for the team lead. The four assists give him six for his Sacramento State career, tying him for third among active Hornets behind Wehner (7) and Alfaro (8), while the four assists are the most by a Sacramento State player since Tyler Moss had six in 2021.
