SACRAMENTO -- The Sacramento State men's soccer team goes in search of its first win of the season with a pair of matches this week, hosting Utah Tech in its home opener on Thursday (Aug. 31) at 5 p.m., before traveling to the United States Air Force Academy to take on the Falcons on Sunday (Sept. 3) at Noon PT. Thursday's match against the Trailblazers is the second of a doubleheader with the women's team, which hosts UC Riverside at 2 p.m.
THIS WEEK…
GAME NOTES: Sacramento State | Utah Tech | Air Force
MATCH #3
WHAT: Utah Tech (1-1) at Sacramento State (0-2)
WHEN: Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023
TIME: 5 p.m.
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
STADIUM: Hornet Soccer Field
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: HornetStats.com
TICKETS: HornetSports.com
MATCH #4
WHAT: Sacramento State (0-2) at Air Force (0-2)
WHEN: Sunday, Sept. 3, 2023
TIME: Noon PT
WHERE: USAFA, Colo.
STADIUM: Cadet Soccer Stadium
WATCH: WAC Digital Network
LIVE STATS: GoAirForceFalcons.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' 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.
SCOUTING UTAH TECH: The Trailblazers sport a 1-1 record after the first weekend of the season, falling at San Francisco (1-0) and defeating Saint Mary's (2-1)... Utah Tech wraps up its three-match swing through Northern California with its game at Sacramento State on Thursday, but won't play at home until Sept. 14 against CSU Bakersfield... The Trailblazers finished 4-12-2 in 2022 with a 2-5-2 mark in Western Athletic Conference play... Junior Jimi Villasenor has accounted for one of the team's two goals, with the other coming on an own goal... Sophomore goalkeeper Stockton Short has played all 180 minutes, posting a 1.00 goals against average and eight saves in two starts.
SERIES RECORDS: The Hornets and Trailblazers will meet for the second consecutive season after Sacramento State posted a 1-0 road win over Utah Tech in the inaugural meeting between the two programs last season.
SCOUTING AIR FORCE: The Falcons are 0-2 to start the regular season, having fallen to Army West Point (3-2) and Seton Hall (3-0)... Air Force hosts Western Michigan on Thursday before welcoming the Hornets... The Falcons are coming off a 2022 campaign in which they finished 8-6-3 overall and a 7-1-1 mark in Western Athletic Conference play before falling to California Baptist in the conference tournament... Senior Luke Hill has accounted for both of Air Force's goals this year, while seniors Remi Smith and Thaddaeus Dewing have tallied assists... Senior goalkeeper Jakob Stone has played all 180 minutes, posting a 3.00 goals against average and eight saves.
SERIES RECORDS: Former rivals in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, Sacramento State leads the all-time series with Air Force by a 13-12-1 margin with only two of those meetings coming outside MPSF play... Sunday marks the first meeting between the two since 2019 when the Hornets posted a 2-0 win at home, while it will be the first meeting between the two in Colorado since 2010 -- a 2-1 Air Force win... Of Sacramento State's 13 wins in the series, 11 have come at home as the Hornets are just 2-8 in Colorado.
CONFERENCE CALL: Sacramento State is a combined 56-42-8 against the nine men's soccer-playing members of the Western Athletic Conference, having faced all but two (UTRGV and California Baptist) of the current league members... The Hornets were 2-0-1 against the WAC in 2022, posting wins over San Jose State (2-1) and Utah Tech (1-0), while drawing with UNLV (2-2)... Sacramento State is 7-2-1 against WAC teams in its last 10 matches against the league dating back to 2017... After this weekend, the Hornets have one match remaining against the WAC, hosting San Jose State on Sept. 22... Sacramento State's 20 wins over the Spartans are the most against a WAC rival, followed by 15 against UNLV and 13 against Air Force.
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.
SIMON SAYS...: Score a goal. After making his Division I debut and attempting a shot as a reserve against nationally ranked Portland, freshman Simon Vaca-Lorenzi wasted little time in getting himself into the scoring column, scoring in the 38th minute against Gonzaga to put the Hornets on the board and notch his first career goal. He became the first freshman to find the back of the net for the Hornets since Axel Ramirez scored his first career goal against UC Irvine on Oct. 2, 2021.
WELL, THAT'S DIFFERENT: Following Vaca-Lorenzi's score on Sunday in Spokane, the Hornet's last eight goals dating back to last season have been scored by seven different players: Francisco Magana, Austin Wehner, Dominic Vegaalban, Genaro Alfaro, Bryan Gutierrez (twice), and Vaca-Lorenzi.
A SHOT IN THE ARM: Sacramento State's 16 shot attempts in the season opener at No. 13 Portland were the most for the Hornets since they attempted 20 shots at CSU Bakersfield on Sept. 28 of last season.
GIMME FIVE!: Fifth-year senior Christo Cervantes came up with his fifth career assist on teammate Simon Vaca-Lorenzi's goal against Gonzaga, joining teammates Genaro Alfaro, Francisco Magana, and Titus Washington for the most among active Hornets during their respective Sacramento State careers. All told, Cody Sundquist has the most in his career, assisting on two goals last season as a Hornet to go along with five in the his final two years at UCLA in 2019 and 2020.
GUTIERREZ GETS AFTER IT: Already with a team-high six shot attempts through two matches in 2022, junior Bryan Gutierrez has surpassed his single-season career high for shots, besting his five attempts in 2022 when he finished with two goals in the team's final three matches.
WELCOME TO THE CLUB: Aside from Vaca-Lorenzi's debut, classmate Fernando Venegas also made his Division I debut with a pair of starts on the back line for the Hornets last weekend. Cal Poly transfer Hasan Alsakati also made a pair of starts in the midfield, while freshman Zac Giles came off the bench in both contests in the Pacific Northwest. While not a newcomer, junior Titus Washington made his return to the lineup for the first time since 2021 with a pair of starts after an injury kept him out for all of 2022.
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.
