SACRAMENTO -- It's finally here. The 2023 Sacramento State men's soccer team officially kicks off its regular season campaign on the road this coming week, traveling to the Pacific Northwest for a pair of contests. The Hornets open the year in the "Rose City" against Portland on Friday (Aug. 25) before heading north to Spokane, Wash., to take on Gonzaga two days later on Sunday (Aug. 27). Both matches are scheduled for 7 p.m.
THIS WEEK…
GAME NOTES: Sacramento State | Portland | Gonzaga
MATCH #1
WHAT: Sacramento State (0-0) at No. 13 Portland (0-0)
WHEN: Friday, Aug. 25, 2023
TIME: 7 p.m.
WHERE: Portland, Ore.
STADIUM: Merlo Field
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: PortlandPilots.com
MATCH #2
WHAT: Sacramento State (0-0) at Gonzaga (0-0)
WHEN: Sunday, Aug. 27, 2023
TIME: 7 p.m. PT
WHERE: Spokane, Wash.
STADIUM: Luger Field
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: GoZags.com
IN THE POLLS: Portland enters the 2023 regular season ranked No. 13 according to the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll... Neither Sacramento State nor Gonzaga are ranked nationally.
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!: 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.
FOR OPENERS: According to available records dating back to 1986, Sacramento State is 8-24-3 in regular season openers, having lost its last two against San Francisco (2-1) in 2021 and No. 3 Washington (3-0) in 2022... This year marks the fifth straight season that the Hornets open the year on the road dating back to the 2018 season... Sacramento State's last win in a season opener came in 2019, posting a 2-0 win at San Jose State... The Hornets are 4-15-2 when opening the season on the road... Friday marks the second time that the Hornets will open the season against Portland, with the two programs battling to a double-overtime 1-1 draw in Portland in 2018.
NOT YOUR RANK AND FILE START: Friday marks the eighth time since 1996 that the Hornets will open the regular season against a nationally ranked opponent -- and the third time in the last five years (not counting the 2020 season that was canceled by the pandemic), when you include a 2018 opener against No. 18 Portland and last year's opener at No. 3 Washington. Sacramento State is 2-4-1 in the previous seven such openers, which included wins over then-No. 2 Santa Clara (2-1) in 2000 and 1-0 in overtime against then-No. 19 Loyola Marymount in 2011, as well as a 1-1 draw against the Pilots in 2018.
AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS: Since 1996, Sacramento State is 8-49-5 against opponents ranked in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25... The Hornets' last win over a top 25 opponent came on Sept. 6, 2019, when they shutout then-No. 25 Air Force, 2-0, at home, while the last result against a nationally ranked team was on Aug. 24, 2018, with a 1-1 draw against then-No. 22 Portland... The last road win against a ranked squad was on Aug. 27, 2011, shutting out Loyola Marymount, 1-0, in overtime.
SCOUTING PORTLAND: The Pilots enter the season fresh off a 2022 season that saw them finish 15-3-3 overall and 6-1 in the West Coast Conference, advancing to the "Elite Eight" of the NCAA Tournament... Portland finished the year 11-0-1 at home and is unbeaten in its last 18 matches at home dating back to a 2-0 loss to then-No. 3 Washington on Sept. 24, 2021... The Pilots return two of their top three scorers from a season ago in junior forward Jacob Babalai (8 goals, 4 assists) and junior midfielder Sebastian Nava (4 goals, 10 assists)... There will be a new face in net with the departure of George Tasouris (0.91 GAA, 65 saves, eight shutouts) as senior transfer Kash Oladapo (formerly at Saint Mary's) joins the roster after posting a 1.15 GAA and 38 saves with the Gaels... He is joined by sophomore Miguel-Angel Hernandez and freshman Drew Hartman.
SERIES RECORDS: Portland leads the all-time series with Sacramento State by a 4-1-1 count dating back to 1995, posting a 1-1 draw in 2018 and a 1-0 win in 2021 -- both played in Portland... The Hornets' lone win in the series came in 2016 via a 2-1 victory at home... Friday marks the fifth time in seven meetings that the two will meet on the Pilots' home field... Four of the six previous meetings have ended in shutouts -- all in favor of Portland.
SCOUTING GONZAGA: The Bulldogs are coming off a 2022 season in which they finished 4-11-3 overall and 0-4-3 in West Coast Conference play... Gonzaga finished winless in its last eight matches of the season (0-5-3), having not posted a win since a 3-2 triumph over St. Thomas on Sept. 27, 2022... The Bulldogs face another Big West foe -- UC Riverside -- on Thursday (Aug. 24) before hosting Sacramento State... Gonzaga has lost its top five goal scorers from 2022, returning just four of the 18 goals scored a season ago... Goalkeeper Stuart Heringer is the incumbent in net, but he appeared in only 68 minutes in 2022 and is one of five keepers listed on the roster in 2023.
SERIES RECORDS: Gonzaga leads the all-time series by a 7-4 count, but Sacramento State has won two of the last three meetings, posting a 2-1 road win in 2019 and a 3-2 home win in 2022 around a 1-0 home loss in 2021... Sunday marks the fourth meeting between the two in Spokane, Wash., with the homestanding Bulldogs winning two of the previous three.
CONFERENCE CALL: Sacramento State is a combined 39-67-19 against the eight men's soccer-playing members of the West Coast Conference, including a 3-1 record against the league last season... Six of the Hornets' nine non-conference matches are against the WCC this year, including four straight from Sept. 7-17 against Pacific, LMU, Saint Mary's, and San Francisco... Sacramento State has posted 11 wins over LMU -- the most against any WCC rival -- while the Hornets have also beaten Saint Mary's eight times.
EXHIBITIONISTS: Sacramento State split a pair of exhibitions, falling at No. 7 Stanford despite an early score from Austin Wehner (6th minute) and shutting out Stanislaus State behind scores from Titus Washington and Christo Cervantes. The goalkeeping duo of Edgar Guerra and Mac Learned split time evenly in the two contests, the former stopping five combined shots and the latter collecting seven saves in the two matches.
THE HORNETS, QUICKLY: What's old is new again. It's true in fashion and, apparently, Sacramento State soccer. Head Coach Michael Linenberger returns close to his entire roster for the 2023 campaign, welcoming back 21 letter winners and nearly every starter -- including all but one who scored a goal last season -- while adding back three student-athletes who redshirted and five new faces. The Hornets finished 9-8-2 overall and 4-5 in Big West Conference play, clinching a berth in the league tournament for the first time since 2017.
NOT IF, BUT "WIN": The nine overall victories in 2022 were the most for the program since 2016 (9-8-3) -- and tied for third in a single-season according to available records -- while the four Big West triumphs were the most since 2017 (4-4-2). At one point in the year, Sacramento State was receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches national poll and were ranked among the Far West Region poll for seven of the 10 weeks during the regular season.
PRESEASON PICKS: Sacramento State was picked to finish tied for fifth in the Big West Conference alongside Causeway rival UC Davis according to a vote of the league's head coaches, picking up 42 points. Perennial power UC Santa Barbara received three first-place votes and 72 points overall to top the poll, while UC Riverside — last year's tournament champion — picked up a conference-best four first-place votes and 69 points overall to finish second.
TO BE THE BEST...: You have to play the best. Sacramento State will do just that this coming season as three of its 2023 opponents were NCAA Tournament qualifiers a season ago (Stanford, Portland, and UC Riverside), while facing six schools that finished last year ranked among the top 100 in the final NCAA RPI rankings: Stanford (No. 9), Portland (No. 17), Air Force (No. 51), UC Santa Barbara (No. 63), Loyola Marymount (No. 86), and San Jose State (No. 100).
WEHNER, WEHNER, CHICKEN DINNER: After racking up United Soccer Coaches all-region and first-team All-Big West laurels in his first season in the green and gold, senior forward Austin Wehner added to his honor roll after being named to the league's preseason coaches team. Wehner becomes only the sixth Hornet since 2012 to earn the honor and the first since Oscar Govea in 2021. Those two are joined by Cesar Castillo (2012), Isaac Ikyurav (2013), Brad Bumgarner (2016), and Paul Geyer (2017) as Sacramento State student-athletes to have earned a spot on the league's preseason team.
TOP SHELF TALENT FROM TOP DRAWER: As the start of the season rapidly approaches, a pair of Sacramento State student-athletes were among those to watch in Top Drawer Soccer's Big West Conference preview as newcomer Simon Vaca-Lorenzi was named as one of five "top freshmen to watch," while Austin Wehner was among a group of five "top players to watch" along with UC Santa Barbara's Leroy Zeller, UC Riverside's Brendan Clark, CSUN's Jamar Ricketts, and UC Irvine's Eddy Berumen.
BY THE NUMBERS: A benefit of returning nearly every member of last year's roster is that the Hornets return a large amount of their production from a season ago. Sacramento State brings back all 28 of its goals and all 22 of its assists from 2022, while losing only 16 of its 207 shot attempts. In net, the two-headed monster of Edgar Guerra and junior Mac Learned return between the pipes after splitting time in 2022. Guerra finished with a 1.26 goals against average and 36 saves (.750 save percentage) en route to winning six contests in net, while Learned posted a 1.48 goals against average and 25 saves in 10 starts.
SQUAD GOALS: The Hornets' 28 goals scored and 78 total points in 2022 were the most by a Sacramento State offense since the 2017 team finished with the same number of goals and 81 total points. According to available records, the 28 goals rank tied for sixth in a single season, while the 78 points are tied for ninth.
DE-FENSE (CLAP, CLAP): Meanwhile, at the other end of the field, the Sacramento State defense posted a 1.37 goals against average, standing ninth in a single season and the lowest since the 2016 team finished with a 1.35 goals against average.
WE BAND OF BROTHERS: When they take the field for the first time in 2023, Hornet brothers Jhared and Robert Willcot will become, what is believed to be, the third set of brothers to play soccer at Sacramento State in the same season, joining Blake and Brady Nunes (2007-08) and Ivan and Omar Oseguera (2017-18). They join other brother tandems who have both played for the Hornets at some point in their careers: Mark and Kevin Baena, Mike and Tim Gaither, and Oscar and Danny Goeva.
GOLDEN STATE STANDOUT: Prior to ever suiting up in the green and gold, Sacramento State freshman Simon Vaca-Lorenzi was already racking up laurels, named the Gatorade California Boys Soccer Player of the Year on June 16, recognizing outstanding athletic excellence, high standards of academic achievement, and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field. Read the complete release by clicking here.
