SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Unbeaten in its last three, the Sacramento State women's soccer team takes on a pair of Big Sky Conference opponents as the race for the league title enters the home stretch. The Hornets host league-leading Montana on Friday (Oct. 18) at 2 p.m. in the final home match of the season, before heading to Flagstaff, Ariz., to face Northern Arizona on Sunday (Oct. 20) at 1 p.m.

Please note the change in start time for Friday's match against Montana, moved up an hour from the originally advertised 3 p.m. kick-off.

THIS WEEK…
MATCH #15
WHAT: Montana (9-2-3, 3-0-1 Big Sky) at Sacramento State (4-6-4, 2-2-1 Big Sky)
WHEN: Friday, Oct. 18, 2024
TIME: 2 PM
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
STADIUM: Hornet Soccer Field
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: HornetStats.com
TICKETS: HornetSports.com

MATCH #16
WHAT: Sacramento State (4-6-4, 2-2-1 Big Sky) at Northern Arizona (2-6-4, 2-2 Big Sky)
WHEN: Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024
TIME: 1 PM
WHERE: Flagstaff, Ariz.
STADIUM: Lumberjack Field
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: NAUAthletics.com

GAME NOTES
Sacramento State | Montana | Northern Arizona

O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAINS!
• Seniors Abigail Lopez and Isabella Vinsonhaler, junior Madelyn Dougherty, and sophomore Ellie Farber, have been selected as 2024 captains
• This is the third straight season that Vinsonhaler has been named a team captain, while Lopez and Dougherty were captains in 2023

SCOUTING MONTANA
• The Grizzlies enter the week with a 9-2-3 overall record and a 3-0-1 mark in Big Sky play  
• Montana is unbeaten in its last nine (6-0-3), last falling at Fresno State on Aug. 29, but outscoring opponents, 16-5, during its streak
• The Grizzlies, who are unbeaten at home (8-0-1), are just 1-2-2 on the road this year
• Montana has outscored the opposition, 23-10, on the year with 11 different goalscorers
• Grad forward Jen Estes leads the team in scoring with six goals and 15 points
• Junior midfielder Chloe Seelhoff adds five goals and 11 points to the Montana roll
• Sophomore goalkeeper Bayliss Flynn has played the majority of minutes (810) in net, posting a 0.56 goals against average and 42 saves (.894 save percentage) to go with six shutouts and a 6-0-3 record this year

SERIES NOTABLES
• Montana leads the all-time series with Sacramento State, 20-7-6
• The Grizzlies are unbeaten in the last 12 meetings (10-0-2) with the Hornets
• Sacramento State's last win in the series overall came on Oct. 4, 2013, with a 3-0 win in Missoula -- the last in a stretch of five unbeaten against Montana
• The Hornets' last win at home against the Grizzlies came on Sept. 30, 2012 -- a 2-0 victory
• Five of Sacramento State's seven wins in the series have come at home, but it is winless in the last six (0-5-1) matches at Hornet Soccer Field
• Six of the last seven meetings have ended in a shutout -- the lone outlier being a 2-1 decision in favor of the Grizzlies in Sacramento in 2022 (Aubrey Goodwill penalty kick in the 37th minute)

SCOUTING NORTHERN ARIZONA
• The Lumberjacks enter the week with a 2-6-4 overall record and a 2-2 mark in Big Sky play
• Northern Arizona hosts Portland State on Friday (Oct. 18) before welcoming the Hornets
• NAU split its matches last weekend against Eastern Washington (W, 1-0) and Idaho (L, 3-2)
• The Lumberjacks were winless in their first nine matches (0-5-4) before a 3-1 win over Northern Colorado on Oct. 3
• Senior forward Haylee Phoenix leads the team in scoring with three goals and six points
• Senior goalkeeper Trinity Corcoran has played all but 90 minutes on the year, posting a 1.27 goals against and 66 saves (.825 save percentage)

SERIES NOTABLES
• Northern Arizona leads the all-time series with Sacramento State, 16-10-5
• The Hornets have won two of the last three regular season meetings with wins in 2021 (1-0) and 2023 (1-0) and a loss in 2022 (2-0)
• The Lumberjacks eliminated Sacramento State from the postseason with a 3-0 decision in the opening round of last year's Big Sky Tournament
• Sporting an 8-3-3 record at home in the series, the Hornets are just 1-11-2 on the road against NAU
• Sacramento State is winless in its last six (0-4-2) trips to Flagstaff dating back to a 1-0 victory on Nov. 7, 2010, in the Big Sky Tournament
• The last four meetings have all ended in a shutout
• The Hornets and Lumberjacks have met five times in the Big Sky Tournament -- the most against any other school in program history -- with NAU winning three

WE'LL HAVE A HOUSE PARTY
• Home, sweet home has been the mantra for the Hornets in 2024, remaining unbeaten at home with a 4-0-3 record following their draw with Northern Colorado
• The four wins at Hornet Soccer Field this season are the most since the 2019 squad finished unbeaten with a 7-0-2 mark on their home turf
• The seven-match home unbeaten streak is now the third-longest in school history, trailing only the 17-match (14-0-3) run from Oct. 1, 2006 to Aug. 29, 2008, and a 13-match (8-0-5) run from Aug. 25, 2019 to March 21, 2021
• Sacramento State is 6-2-5 in its last 13 matches on its home turf dating back to last year
• Sacramento State enters the week as one of three unbeaten Big Sky teams at home this year along with Montana (8-0-1) and Idaho (5-0-1)

SPEAKING OF STREAKS
• Lopez enters this week's matches having notched a point in each of the last three contests, accumulating six total points combined on a pair of goals and two assists

TOP 10 FOR NUMBER 10
• Lopez continued her climb up the school's all-time lists for goals and points following her first-half game-tying score against Northern Colorado
• The three-time All-Big Sky Conference honoree enters this week's matches with 15 career scores to go with seven assists for 37 points
• Her 15 goals are tied for seventh on the school's all-time list along with Kim Kemper (2006-09) and stand two back of Leah Larot (17 from 2007-10) for sixth
• Lopez's 37 career points pushed her past former teammate Aubrey Goodwill (36 from 2018-22) and into a tie for eighth along with Lori Kerswell (1997-98, 2000-01) and Elece McBride (2008-12)
• Two more points would tie her with Larot and her 39 points for seventh
• Thanks to her two attempts last week, Lopez's 122 career shots are tied with Elece McBride (2008-12) for ninth, standing just four behind Kayla Collins (2015-17) for eighth
• Lopez's four goals this season ties her personal single-season career high set in 2023, while her three assists this year are a career high
• Entering the year, Lopez has led the team in points twice in the last three seasons (10 in 2021 and eight in 2023)

PENALTY KILLER
• When sophomore goalkeeper Izzy Palmatier turned away Northern Colorado's Rachel Mortensen and her penalty attempt last week, it marked Palmatier's second career PK save
• Palmatier also denied Idaho's Annika Farley in the 33rd minute on Oct. 8 in Sacramento to keep the match scoreless

YOU GET A GOAL! YOU GET A GOAL!
• Of the Hornets' last seven goals (not counting the "own goal" against Idaho State on Oct. 4), five different players have accounted for those scores with Sydney Sharts and Abigail Lopez netting two goals apiece along with Candace Ching, Ellie Farber, and Ariana Scholten
• In addition, six different players have assisted on those seven goals, with Lopez notching a pair
• Overall, eight different Hornets have scored goals this year, matching last year's total and the most since Sacramento State had nine goal-scorers in the 2020-21 spring season

HIGH FIVE?
• With three regular season matches remaining -- and possible matches in the Big Sky Tournament looming on the horizon -- Lopez still has a chance to build upon on her season goal total
• Entering the week with four goals to her name, a fifth score for Lopez would be the most by a Hornet since Kylee Kim-Bustillos and Ariana Nino finished with nine and five goals, respectively, during the 2019 campaign

LOPEZ AMONG THE BEST IN THE BIG SKY
• The senior enters the week ranking fourth in overall shot attempts (36), third in shots per game (2.57), tied for third in assists (3), tied for fifth in points (11), tied for sixth in goals scored (4), and eighth in shots on goal (15)

WHEN IT'S GOTTA BE CLEAN
• Palmatier's shutout in the team's 3-0 win over Weber State on Oct. 6 was the seventh of her career, moving her into sole possession of ninth on the all-time list -- just one behind Amy Seely (2000-02) and Jenny Lawrence (2005-08) for seventh
• Three more clean sheets this year will make Palmatier only the seventh Hornet keeper to reach double digits for their career and the first since Aaliyah Fesili (2017-21) finished with 18

IZZY DOES IT
• Palmatier enters the week ranked fourth in the Big Sky Conference in overall saves (64), saves per match (4.57), and save percentage (.762), while standing tied for fourth in shutouts (3), and seventh in goals against average (1.43)
• Three of her top five career single-match save totals have all come this year
• A career-high 11 saves came in a scoreless draw against Cal Poly on Aug. 29, followed by 10 saves against Oregon on Sept. 8 -- her second and third career contests with double-digit stops
• The 11 saves against the Mustangs were just one shy of breaking onto the program's all-time single-match top 10 list and were the most since Mia Shalit finished with the same number against Northern Arizona on Oct. 21, 2022
• The 11 stops were tied for the most in a match by a Big Sky keeper until Portland State's Eden Millan finished with 12 against Eastern Washington on Sept. 27