SACRAMENTO -- Hitting the road for the first time in 2023, this week will be a homecoming of sorts for a number of Hornets as Sacramento State heads to the Aloha State for a pair of contests on O'ahu. The Hornets open the week by taking on their third consecutive Big West Conference foe in Hawai'i on Thursday (Aug. 24) at 10 p.m. PT, before meeting Hawai'i Pacific two days later at 9 p.m. PT.

THIS WEEK…
GAME NOTES: Sacramento State | Hawai'i | Hawai'i Pacific

MATCH #3
WHAT: Sacramento State (0-1-1) at Hawai'i (0-1-1)
WHEN: Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023
TIME: 10 p.m. PT
WHERE: Waipahu, O'ahu
STADIUM: Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium
WATCH: None
LIVE STATS: HawaiiAthletics.com

MATCH #4
WHAT: Sacramento State (0-1-1) at Hawai'i Pacific (0-0)
WHEN: Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023
TIME: 9 p.m. PT
WHERE: Waipahu, O'ahu
STADIUM: Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium
WATCH: None
LIVE STATS: HPUSharks.com

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' women's soccer program on all three platforms: Instagram (@sacstatewsoccer), Twitter (@sacstatewsoccer), and Facebook (/sacstatewsoccer).

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.

O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAINS!: Sophomore Madelyn Dougherty, junior Isabella Vinsonhaler, and junior Abigail Lopez, were named team captains for the 2023 season.

SCOUTING HAWAI'I: The Rainbow Wahine enter the week with an 0-1-1 overall record after posting a 1-1 draw with Utah Valley and dropping a 7-5 shootout with Gonzaga at their own OUTRIGGER Soccer Kickoff over the weekend... Sophomore forward Amber Gilbert accounted for three of the team's six goals on the weekend, scoring those on six shots, while Mia Foster (twice) and Cate Sheahan (once) also found the back of the net... Goalkeeper Sophie Augustin played all but 27 minutes in net, posting a 2.93 goals against and 11 saves in the two contests, facing 24 shots.

SERIES NOTES: Hawai'i leads the all-time series with Sacramento State, 6-3-1, but the two teams haven't met since a scoreless draw in Honolulu in 2019... The Rainbow Wahine are unbeaten in the last two against the Hornets, adding a 2-1 double-overtime win in 2016 to that 2019 draw... Sacramento State's last win came in 2001 -- a 4-1 home victory... The Hornets have never beaten the Rainbow Wahine on their home field, posting an 0-3-1 record on the road in the series -- all ending in overtime or double overtime... The four goals in that 2001 meeting are the most by either team in the history of the series... Seven of the 10 meetings have been decided by a single goal, while five have ended in a shutout for either team.

SCOUTING HAWAI'I PACIFIC: Saturday's match against Sacramento State will be the season opener for the NCAA Division II Sharks... HPU finished the 2022 campaign with a 5-8-3 overall record and a seventh-place finish in the PacWest Conference with a 4-5-1 record... The Sharks return all but three players who scored goals for them last season, including their top three scorers in sophomore forward Justice Valdez (4 goals), senior forward Mehana Ortiz (3 goals), and senior forward Caylie Uyema (3 goals)... Senior goalkeeper Madi DePhillips is the returner in net after posting a 1.79 goals against and 38 saves last season in 603 minutes.

SERIES NOTES: This will be the first official meeting between the Hornets and Sharks in women's soccer.

CONFERENCE CALL: Sacramento State has faced 10 of the 11 current members of the Big West Conference and will face five of them in 2023... The Hornets are a combined 25-50-12 against the Big West, but are winless in the last 10 matches (0-5-5) against conference members dating back to a 2-0 win over CSU Bakersfield on Sept. 22, 2019... The only school that the Hornets have not gone head-to-head with is UC San Diego, which officially joined the league prior to the 2020-21 school year.

OHANA MEANS FAMILY: Turns out, you can go home again. This weekend marks a homecoming for six Hornets, who will be going home to compete in front of family and friends for the first time in the green and gold: Mililani's Shaunee Egloria (Mililani HS) and Ali Fuamatu-Ma'afala (Mililani HS), Kula's Madelyn Dougherty (King Kekaulike HS), Kailua's Teysha-Ray Spinney-Kuahuia (Kealakehe HS), Honolulu's Dalen Lau (Punahou School), and Aiea's Payton Inabata (Punahou School). In addition, Sacramento State's Director of Operations Joey Lum, a Kailua native, also will be making the trip.

LOPEZ WITH THE FIRST: The first goal of the season came off the foot of junior captain Abigail Lopez, whose penalty in the first half against CSU Bakersfield following a red card staked the Hornets to the early lead. It was her third career conversion from the spot after going 2-for-2 as a sophomore in 2022, and give her sole possession of second place on the school's career list according to available records behind only Aubrey Goodwill and her seven penalty makes.

NOSE FOR THE GOAL: Lopez, a two-time All-Big Sky Conference honoree, has been one of the program's top scorers in her two-plus seasons with the Hornets, entering the week with eight career goals while assisting on four others over 37 matches. She enters the week only five goals shy of breaking into the top 10 on the school's all-time list (Tisha Smith and Adaurie Dayak are tied for ninth with 13).

ELLIE ELECTRIC: Freshman Ellie Farber was one of nine Hornets to make their official Sacramento State debuts during the opening weekend of the season and the Redding, Calif., native wasted little time in making an impact. Farber shared the team lead in shots while playing 80 minutes against CSU Bakersfield, peppering the Roadrunner net to the tune of five attempts, and added a team-high two shots against UC Davis three days later.

WELCOME TO THE CLUB: Other Hornets to make their Division I debuts this weekend included: Cassandra Herrman, Payton Inabata, Dalen Lau, Lizzie Ledesma, Izzy Palmatier, Ariana Scholten, Lexi Schroeder, and Teysha-Ray Spinney-Kuahuia.

IZZY DOES IT: Palmatier recevied the first two starts of her career in net during opening weekend, going the distance and making a pair of saves against CSU Bakersfield in the opener before facing 12 shots and making a season-high four stops against UC Davis three days later. She is the first Hornet keeper not named Mia Shalit to start a match since Katie Price did so against Northern Colorado on Oct. 3, 2021.

SHE'S GOING THE DISTANCE: With two matches in the books thus far, junior defender Erika Tilford is the lone Hornet to have played in all 180 minutes.

SHOT IN THE ARM: Sacramento State's 15 shot attempts against CSU Bakersfield were the most in a season opener by the Hornets since the 2016 team had the same number against the same opponent on Aug. 19 of that year.

MIGHTY MIA: Senior goalkeeper Mia Shalit returns for her third season between the pipes for the Hornets after leading the Big Sky in overall saves (94) and finishing second in saves per game (5.22). Shalit, who spent time in the summer of 2022 with the Peruvian Women's National Team, finished the year ranked eighth on the school's single-season list with her 94 stops, while her 1,640 minutes stand seventh on the single-season chart. Nearly half of those 94 saves came in the span of four matches when she posted double-digit stops against No. 21 Stanford (15), No. 22 Washington (11), Northern Arizona (11), and Saint Mary's (11).

MILESTONES AHEAD: Shalit enters the 2023 campaign looking to move up a number of school all-time lists:
• Ranks 8th in career saves with 151 (needs 21 to match Kristy Milanese for 7th)
• Ranks T-9th in career shutouts with five (needs 3 to tie Amy Seely and Jenny Lawrence for 7th)
• Ranks 10th in career minutes with 2,582 (needs 246 to match Destiny Butcher for 9th)

THE HORNETS, QUICKLY: Qualifying for the Big Sky Conference Tournament for the third straight season, Sacramento State returns 13 letter winners and eight starters for the 2023 campaign, while welcoming back four redshirts and adding 14 new faces -- including a pair of Division I transfers.

THAT'S FRESH: The 12 true freshmen listed on this year's roster are the most under the direction of Head Coach Randy Dedini and are the most for the program since the 2002 squad featured 14 Hornets entering their first year of collegiate soccer.

CHIEFS OF STAFF: Head Coach Randy Dedini enters his 17th season at the helm of the Hornet program and is joined once again by volunteer assistant Danielle Davis and director of operations Joey Lum. New to the staff in 2023 is assistant coach Chris Malenab, who has spent the last eight years coaching in the USL ranks -- including three years with the Sacramento Republic FC from 2014-17 -- and with the 2022 WPSL National Champion California Storm, as well as the Grenada and Guam national teams.

STATE OF THE HORNETS: Five different states will be represented on the Sacramento State roster in 2023 but, aside from California, no other state will have as much of an impact as the "Aloha State." The Hornets feature six Hawai'ians (Ali Fuamatu-Ma'afala, Teysha-Ray Spinney-Kuahuia, Shaunee Egloria, Dalen Lau, Madelyn Dougherty, and Payton Inabata) on this year's roster along with one each from Washington (Sierra Sonko), Colorado (Ella Wilcox), and Idaho (Isabella Vinsonhaler). Sonko is the first Hornet from the "Evergreen State" since Caitlin Prothe wrapped up her stellar career in 2018, while Wilcox is the first Colorado native since Courtney Gorham finished her four years in 2005.

PRESEASON PICKS: Sacramento State enters the 2023 campaign picked to finish sixth in the Big Sky Conference, receiving 34 points to finish just one back of Eastern Washington in fifth and six points ahead of both Portland State and Northern Colorado. Reigning champion Northern Arizona received four first-place votes and 54 points overall to edge Idaho (three votes, 49 points), while Weber State (one vote, 45 points) and Montana (40 points) rounded out the top four.