SACRAMENTO -- Incoming Sacramento State men's soccer freshman Simon Vaca-Lorenzi was named the Gatorade California Boys Soccer Player of the Year on June 16, and is now a finalist for the national award to be announced later this month.

The award recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field.

Vaca-Lorenzi, who prepped at nearby Davis HS across the Causeway in Davis, Calif., joins the Hornets after leading the Blue Devils to a 22-0-2 record and a CIF Sac-Joaquin Division I section title. He finished with 25 goals and 13 assists, including the lone goal against Clovis North HS in the Northern California Division I Regional. Also named the Delta League Player of the Year, he finished with 51 goals and 36 assists during his prep career.

Off the field, he has volunteered as a peer Spanish language tutor and a youth soccer coach. In the classroom, he has maintained a weighted 4.25 GPA.

Vaca-Lorenzi joins a Sacramento State squad that returns nearly its entire roster for the 2023 season and is one of five newcomers to the program. The Hornets finished last year with a 9-8-2 overall record and were, at one point, receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches national poll while ranking among the organization's Far West Region poll for seven of the 10 weeks during the regular season.