SACRAMENTO -- The eight-match "second season" begins this week as the Sacramento State women's soccer team begins Big Sky Conference play with a pair of contests. The Hornets open at home against reigning champs Northern Arizona on Friday (Sept. 22) at 1:30 p.m., in the first match of a doubleheader with the men's team (vs. San Jose State), before hitting the road to take on Northern Colorado on Sunday (Sept. 24) in an 11 a.m. PT kick-off.

THIS WEEK…
GAME NOTES: Sacramento State | Northern Arizona | Northern Colorado

MATCH #10
WHAT: Northern Arizona (5-2-2, 0-0 Big Sky) at Sacramento State (2-5-2, 0-0 Big Sky)
WHEN: Friday, Sept. 22, 2023
TIME: 1:30 p.m.
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
STADIUM: Hornet Soccer Field
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: HornetStats.com
TICKETS: HornetSports.com

MATCH #11
WHAT: Sacramento State (2-5-2, 0-0 Big Sky) at Northern Colorado (0-9-1, 0-0 Big Sky)
WHEN: Sunday, Sept. 24, 2023
TIME: 11 a.m. PT
WHERE: Greeley, Colo.
STADIUM: Jackson Stadium
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: UNCBears.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 NORTHERN ARIZONA: The Lumberjacks enter the week with a 5-2-2 overall record, including an unbeaten 2-0-2 mark on the road... NAU is unbeaten in its last five (4-0-1), including three straight victories over Utah Tech (1-0), San Diego (2-0), and Loyola Marymount (3-1)... Seniors Maddie Shafer (two goals, two assists) and Allison Veloz (three goals) share the team lead in points, while Veloz's three goals leads a group of 10 Lumberjacks that have found the back of the net this year... Junior Trinity Corcoran has started eight of the team's nine matches in net, but has played only 453 minutes, nearly splitting time with junior Natalie Manzo... Corcoran has posted a 0.99 goals against average to Manzo's 1.01, and made 16 saves to Manzo's 19. 

SERIES NOTES: Northern Arizona leads the all-time series with Sacramento State by a 15-9-5 count following a 2-0 win in Flagstaff in last year's regular season finale... The Hornets' last win in the series came in the 2021 Big Sky Championship by a 1-0 score in the quarterfinals, but haven't posted a regular season win over the Lumberjacks since 2015 in a 1-0 overtime triumph at home... Sacramento State, however, is 7-3-3 all time at home against NAU, but has gone just 0-1-2 in the last three meetings between the two in California.

SCOUTING NORTHERN COLORADO: The Bears enter the week still looking for their first win of the season, posting a 0-9-1 overall record heading into their Big Sky opener against Portland State on Friday... UNC has lost three straight dating back to its only result at North Dakota -- a scoreless draw on Sept. 7... The Bears' offense has scored only three goals on the year, one of those by Lexi Tuite, who leads the team with three points... Goalkeeper Kaya Lindberg has started nine of 10 matches in net, posting a 2.47 goals against average and 64 saves (.736 save percentage).

SERIES NOTES: Sacramento State leads the all-time series with Northern Colorado by a 9-7-3 count following a 1-0 victory at home last year... The Hornets have won two of the last three meetings... Each of the last three meetings -- and six of the last seven dating back to 2016 -- have ended in a shutout... Sacramento State is 5-2-1 on the road against the Bears, falling by a 2-0 score in its last trip to Greeley, Colo., in 2021, and posting a 1-0 win in 2019... The Hornets have won three of the last four in Colorado.

BIG SKY LID LIFTERS: Sacramento State is 11-10-6 all time in Big Sky Conference openers dating back to 1996... The Hornets are winless in their last four (0-2-2), suffering defeats in their last two against Portland State (4-2) in 2021 and Montana (2-1) in 2022... Sacramento State is opening conference play at home for the second straight season, the third time in the last four years, and the 12th time overall... The Hornets are 5-3-3 when opening Big Sky play at home... Sacramento State and Northern Arizona will be opening conference play against one another for the seventh time, with the Lumberjacks leading that series, 4-2... However, the Hornets have won the last two... The two haven't met in a conference opener since 2015, with Sacramento State posting a 1-0 overtime win at home.

5... 4... 3...: When junior Isabella Vinsonhaler knocked in her first career goal with three seconds remaining in regulation last week in a draw with California Baptist, it marked the fourth time since 2010 that a Hornet has scored a goal in the final minute of regulation and the latest of those four scores, topping Adaurie Dayak's score with 12 seconds remaining against Idaho on Oct. 24, 2014. Vinsonhaler became the fifth Hornet to find the back of the net this season -- and the fourth to net their first career goal in 2023.

NOBODY PUTS MADELYN IN THE CORNER: But maybe they should. Sophomore Madelyn Dougherty's corner kick found its mark last week on Isabella Vinsonhaler's goal against California Baptist, giving the Kula, Hawai'i, native her first career assist to go along with her first career goal earlier in the season at Hawai'i Pacific. The helper was the fourth of the year by a Hornet and moved Dougherty into third on the team's scoring list.

ONE AND ONLY: The 1-1 draw against California Baptist marked the fifth time in nine matches this year that the Hornets have had a match decided by a single goal or less.

GUESS WHO'S BACK?: Senior goalkeeper Mia Shalit made her first start of the season in net last week against California Baptist, making a season-high three stops in a 1-1 draw. After appearing in relief against UC Davis (Aug. 20) and Saint Mary's (Sept. 14), earlier this year, Shalit made her first start since last year's Big Sky Tournament match against Weber State.

GUESS WHO'S BACK... PART II: After missing the first half of the season due to injury, junior Danna Restom made her return to the field against California Baptist, coming in as a reserve and playing 36 minutes against the Lancers. A two-time All-Big Sky performer, Restom scored a goal and an assist in 12 matches last season (including starts in the final nine) after missing the first six contests due to injury.

STAY ON TARGET: Sophomore Madelyn Dougherty has been one of the more accurate shot-takers in the Big Sky thus far this season, putting 11 of her 15 attempts (.733) on frame through the first nine contests. Her 11 shots on goal rank third in the league behind leader Eastern Washington's Maddie Morgan (20) and she remains the only Sacramento State player to attempt a shot in every match this season.

NOSE FOR THE GOAL: Junior captain Abigail 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 nine career goals while assisting on four others over 42 matches. She enters the week only four 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).

LOPEZ WITH THE FIRST: The first goal of the season came off the foot of 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.

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 156 (needs 16 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 2,693 (needs 135 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.