SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The battle for points in the race for the Big West Conference regular season crown takes to the road for the final time this year as Sacramento State heads to Orange County for a pair of matches. The Hornets take on Cal State Fullerton on Wednesday (Oct. 23) at 7 p.m., before traveling to UC Irvine on Saturday (Oct. 26) for a 6 p.m. kick-off.

THIS WEEK…
MATCH #16
WHAT: Sacramento State (6-7-2, 3-3 Big West) at Cal State Fullerton (6-5-5, 2-2-2 Big West)
WHEN: Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024
TIME: 7 p.m.
WHERE: Fullerton, Calif.
STADIUM: Titan Stadium
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: FullertonTitans.com

MATCH #17
WHAT: Sacramento State (6-7-2, 3-3 Big West) at UC Irvine (6-7-1, 3-3 Big West)
WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024
TIME: 6 p.m.
WHERE: Irvine, Calif.
STADIUM: Anteater Stadium
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: UCIrvineSports.com

GAME NOTES
Sacramento State | Cal State Fullerton | UC Irvine

SCOUTING CAL STATE FULLERTON
• The Titans enter the week with a 6-5-5 overall record and a 2-2-2 mark in Big West play
• Fullerton is winless in its last three, sandwiching losses to UC Davis (2-1) and Cal Poly (1-0) around a 3-3 draw at UC Riverside
• The Titans' last victory was a 4-1 triumph over UC San Diego on Oct. 9
• Fullerton is 2-1-3 at home this year, suffering its first loss at Titan Stadium against Cal Poly last weekend
• Senior midfielder Roberto Ordonez leads the team in scoring with six goals and 19 points, standing as one of four Titans with double-digit points this year
• Graduate goalkeeper Brandon Limes has played all but 106 minutes in net this year, posting a 1.69 goals against average and 44 saves (.638 save percentage)

SERIES NOTABLES
• Cal State Fullerton leads the all-time series with Sacramento State, 10-5
• The Titans won the last meeting, 1-0, in Sacramento on Oct. 14 of last season, ending a run of two straight wins by the Hornets in 2021 (3-1) and 2022 (1-0)
• Fullerton has won six of the seven meetings against Sacramento State in Orange County, with Sacramento State posting its first-ever win in Fullerton with a 1-0 victory on Oct. 22, 2022
• Prior to Wednesday, three of the previous four meetings between the two had been played in Sacramento

SCOUTING UC IRVINE
• The Anteaters enter the week with a 6-7-1 overall record and a 3-3 mark in Big West play
• UC Irvine travels to Cal Poly on Wednesday (Oct. 23) before hosting Sacramento State
• The Anteaters have won their last two contests, posting 1-0 victories over Cal State Bakersfield and CSUN
• Irvine is 4-3-1 at home this season, alternating wins and losses following a 1-1 draw against Vermont on Aug. 29 in its home opener
• Junior forward Agaton Pourshahidi leads the team with five goals and 12 points
• The Anteaters have used five goalkeepers this season due to injuries with senior Paul Jing starting the last two -- and making four appearances overall
• Jing has not allowed a goal in 328 minutes, posting 17 saves while collecting three shutouts in his three victories this year

SERIES NOTABLES
• UC Irvine leads the all-time series with Sacramento State, 13-8-4, dating back to 1994
• The Anteaters have won the last three straight matches in the series -- all via shutout
• The Hornets' last win in the series came on Oct. 2, 2021, at home, winning 3-2
• UC Irvine is 9-4 at home against Sacramento State, winning the last three meetings in Orange County dating back to a 2-1 Hornet win in 2016

BIG WEEK NETS BIG WEST HONORS
• Donovan Sessoms was named the Big West Offensive Player of the Week while newcomer Angad Singh was named the Freshman of the Week on Oct. 21
• It is Sessoms' second offensive weekly honor of the year (Sept. 17), while Singh became the fourth Hornet freshman to earn weekly honors (Fernando Venegas, Ethan Kelly, and Sean Battistessa)
• It also marks the second time that Sacramento State has won two weekly awards from the Big West, joining Sessoms' and Venegas' honors on Sept. 17

IT'S A MAJOR AWARD
• In addition to his Big West honor, Sessoms was named to Top Drawer Soccer's National Team of the Week, while freshman Sean Battistessa was an honorable mention on the same list
• It marked the second appearance for a Hornet on the National Team of the Week as Sessoms joins teammate Fernando Venegas, who picked up the honor on Sept. 17 

RAREFIED AIR
• With his second offensive player of the week award this year, Sessoms becomes the first Hornet to win that honor twice in the same season and only the second to win the award twice in a career
• Former Sacramento State standout Ivan Ramirez (2013-16) won his first weekly offensive honor on Oct. 19, 2015, and again on Sept. 26, 2016

WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF HATS
• A hat trick is rare... having one in back-to-back probably more so... but that's exactly what happened last week as Sean Battistessa and Donovan Sessoms each accomplished the feat in wins over CSUN and UC Santa Barbara, respectively
• The two performances are believed to be the eighth and ninth recorded hat tricks in school history
• It was the first time in school history that the Hornets have had a hat trick in back-to-back matches and the second time they have had one in the same season, joining Jamel Mitchell and Martin Sims, who did so against San Diego and UNLV, respectively, in 1994

WELCOME HOME
• Playing back-to-back matches at home for the first time all year, the wins over CSUN and UC Santa Barbara kept the Hornets unbeaten at home in their last five contests (4-0-1) since a season-opening loss to Utah Valley on Aug. 22
• It is the longest unbeaten run at home since Sacramento State defeated UC San Diego and Cal State Fullerton to close out 2021, then opened 2022 with a win over San Jose State, a draw with Pacific, and wins over Loyola Marymount and Gonzaga (5-0-1 combined)
• Overall, the seven home matches in 2024 are the fewest for the Hornets since the 2018 squad played the same number

WE MUST PROTECT THIS NEST
• The Sacramento State men's and women's soccer teams have thrived at home this year, posting a combined 8-1-5 record and going unbeaten in the last 12 (7-0-5)
• The Hornet women finished 2024 unbeaten at home, going 4-0-4 in their eight home dates
• At home, Sacramento State has outscored opponents 13-6 on the men's side and 13-4 on the women's side
• With one regular season home match remaining, the Hornets' four home wins are the most since the 2022 team finished 4-4-1 at home
• Those four wins are the most since the 2016 squad finished 6-3-1 at home

DE-FENSE... *CLAP, CLAP*
• The Sacramento State back line limited CSUN and UC Santa Barbara to five combined shots on goal (out of 29 total attemtps) in the two matches last week -- one for the Matadors and four for the Gauchos
• The one shot on goal by CSUN was the fewest allowed by the Hornet defense since Cal Poly was held to one in a 4-0 Sacramento State win on Oct. 19, 2022
• The five shots on goal combined were the fewest allowed in back-to-back matches since the Hornets allowed the one to the Mustangs and four to UC Riverside four days earlier

HIGH FIVE
• The five goals in the shutout of CSUN were a season high, surpassing the four scored at Saint Mary's on Sept. 15
• They were also the most goals in a match since the Hornets out-scored Pacific, 5-2, on the road on Sept. 7 last year
• The final 5-0 scoreline marked the program's largest margin of victory -- and the largest shutout triumph -- since an 8-0 win over Loyola Marymount on Nov. 3, 1993

NOT HALF BAD
• Of those five goals against the Matadors, four of them came in the first half -- the first time that the Hornets put up four goals in a half since a 5-1 win against Cal Poly on Oct. 21, 2017, when they scored four times in the second half
• The last time Sacramento State put up four goals in the first 45 minutes came in an 11-0 win over Jessup University on Sept. 9, 2011, scoring four times in the first half

CLASS IS IN SESSOMS
• With the opening goal against CSUN and three more against UC Santa Barbara, sophomore Donovan Sessoms is in a class by himself, leading the team with nine scores and 18 points overall in 2024
• Sessoms' goal total (which ranks third in the Big West entering the week) has him just one shy of the school's single-season top 10, posting the most goals in a season since Chris Bettencourt finished with 11 goals in 2010 (which ranks eighth on the school's single-season list)
• One more goal puts Sessoms in a tie with Max Alvarez (10 in 2009) and Jamel Mitchell (10 in 1996) for the No. 9 spot
• Sessoms' 18 points (fourth in the Big West) are the most since Bettencourt had 18 (seven goals, four assists) in 2011 and are five shy of Alvarez's 2009 total (23) for No. 10 on the school's single-season list

WINNER WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER
• Thanks to his game-winners against CSUN and UCSB last week, Sessoms now has the winning score in five of the team's six victories
• That total ranks second on the school's single-season list, standing behind only Chris Bettencourt, who had six in 2010
• Nationally, the five game-winners are also tied for the national lead, matching Rider's Bryan Akongo and Delaware's Marius Stenner

I CAN SEE FOR GILES AND GILES
• Talk about field vision, sophomore defender Zac Giles saw his teammates well last week, adding to his team-high assist total with one against both CSUN and UC Santa Barbara
• Giles, who ranks tied for third in the Big West with five assists, are the most since Tyler Moss had six in 2021
• The Lincoln, Calif., native helped on Sean Battistessa's second goal against the Matadors, while assisting on Donovan Sessoms' eventual game-winner against UC Santa Barbara

HELP ME, HELP YOU
• Axel Ramirez posted his career-high fourth assist against UC Santa Barbara, ranking second on the team and tied for seventh in the Big West
• Along with Giles' total, it marks the second straight season -- and the fourth time in the last five seasons -- that two Hornets have collected at least four assists in the same season

MISTER BIG SHOT
• Sessoms led all players with eight shot attempts en route to his hat trick against UC Santa Barbara, putting six of those on goal
• The eight overall attempts were the most since Edwin Luna had eight against San Francisco on Sept. 12, 2013
• The six shots on goal were the most since Francisco Magana had six en route to his hat trick against Gonzaga on Sept. 11, 2022
• Sessoms' 37 shots are tied fo the most in the Big West along with UC Santa Barbara's Alexis Ledoux and Cal Poly's Quinn Mahoney

"POINT"-ING THE WAY
• In addition to the goal-scoring fireworks, a number of Hornets netted their first points in the last two matches
• Freshman Hiroshi Yang netted his first career goal in the win over CSUN off a free kick just outside the box
• Ali Sasankhah, Jhared Willcot, and Angad Singh, collected their first assists of the year against the Matadors, with Willcot posting his first point since an assist against UC Davis on Oct. 30, 2021
• Sophomore Simon Vaca-Lorenzi posted his first two career assists on the final two goals against UC Santa Barbara -- the first two-assist match by a Hornet since Genaro Alfaro did so on goals by Bryan Gutierrez at Pacific on Sept. 7 of last season

STOP! HALT! ARRET! ALTO! FERMA!
• One of the nation's top shot stoppers has picked up right where he left off in 2023, as senior goalkeeper Mac Learned's 68 saves and 4.53 saves per match are tops in the Big West, while his .756 save percentage stands second as of Oct. 21
• Entering the week, Learned ranks No. 5 in the NCAA in total saves behind leader Stockton Short of Utah Tech (88) and stands No. 12 in saves per game behind Niagara's Jamie Barry (7.00 per game)
• Last year, he spent six straight weeks atop the NCAA leaderboard in total saves, finishing No. 3 nationally with 88 saves and No. 7 in saves per game (5.50)
• The nine saves in the shutout of San Francisco on Sept. 12 were a season high and the second-highest total of his career, trailing on his 10 stops against the Dons on the road last year
• They also remain tied for the most by a Big West keeper this season, matching UC San Diego's Nolan Premack, who had nine stops against Duke on Aug. 25
• After last week, Learned's 188 career saves rank eighth on the school's all-time top 10 list, matching Ryan Kenny (2006-09) for seventh