SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Unbeaten in its last five matches, the Sacramento State women's soccer team is locked in a battle for points and positioning for the upcoming Big Sky Conference Tournament, hitting the road for the final time with a single match in the Pacific Northwest. The Hornets take on host Portland State on Sunday (Oct. 27) in their only match of the week, kicking-off at Noon at Hillsboro Stadium in Hillsboro, Ore. -- located 20 miles west of the Downtown Portland campus.
THIS WEEK…
MATCH #17
WHAT: Sacramento State (4-6-6, 2-2-3 Big Sky) at Portland State (4-7-4, 2-2-3 Big Sky)
WHEN: Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024
TIME: Noon
WHERE: Hillsboro, Ore.
STADIUM: Hillsboro Stadium
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: GoViks.com
GAME NOTES
Sacramento State | Portland State
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 PORTLAND STATE
• The Vikings enter the week with a 4-7-4 overall record and a 2-2-3 mark in Big Sky play to stand tied for fourth with Sacramento State
• Portland State split its two matches last week, defeating Northern Arizona on the road before falling at Montana by identical 1-0 scores
• Each of the Vikings' last three matches have been decided by 1-0 results
• Neither Portland State, nor its opponent, has scored more than one goal in each of the last five contests and eight of the last nine save for a 3-0 Idaho victory in Moscow on Sept. 29
• The Vikings are 2-2-3 at home this season and are unbeaten at Hillsboro Stadium in their last five dating back to a 2-1 loss to Hawai'i on Sept. 12
• Junior forward Elle Frazier leads the team in scoring with five goals and 10 points overall, while senior midfielder Abi Hoffman leads the team with three assists to go with three goals
• Grad goalkeeper Eden Millan has seen the majority of minutes (945) in net this season, posting a 1.05 goals against average to go along with 61 saves (.847 save percentage) and four shutouts
• Head Coach Katie Burton was a three-time All-Big Sky selection for the Hornets from 2003-07 and was an associate head coach with the program in 2015 and 2016
SERIES NOTABLES
• Sacramento State leads the all-time series with Portland State, 15-12-4
• The Vikings are unbeaten in the last three meetings (2-0-1) with the Hornets, sandwiching a 4-2 win in 2021 and a 1-0 win in 2023 around a 0-0 draw in 2022
• Sunday marks the sixth time in the last six seasons that Sacramento State and Portland State will play on the Vikings' home turf, with last year's meeting in Sacramento snapping a run of five straight meetings in the Pacific Northwest
• The series between the two programs is tied, 7-7-3, in matches played in Portland
• Sacramento State is 4-2-1 in the last seven contests played on Portland State's field dating back to 2016
• Nine of the last 10 meetings between the two have ended in either a tie or decided by a single goal save for the Vikings' 4-2 win in 2021
• The series between the two schools is nearly even over the last 10 matches, with Sacramento State holding a 5-4-1 advantage
BIG SKY BIG PICTURE
• Sacramento State enters the final week of the regular season in a tie for fourth standing on nine points
• The Hornets can finish no higher than fourth as Eastern Washington, currently in third place with 12 points, holds the head-to-head tiebreaker with Sacramento State by virtue of the Eagles' victory on Sept. 29
• Idaho, Eastern Washington, Portland State, and Sacramento State are the only four teams that play once this week
WE'RE GOING STREAKING
• Sacramento State enters its regular season finale on a five-match unbeaten streak, posting a 3-0-2 mark dating back to a 4-1 win over Idaho State on Oct. 4
• In that stretch, the Hornets have surrendered only three goals while scoring nine of their own
• The five-match unbeaten streak is the longest since opening the pandemic-delayed spring 2020-21 season with a 1-0-4 record
• It is also the longest outside of that special season since going unbeaten in 17 straight matches (11-0-6) between a loss to UC Davis (Aug. 23) and a tournament defeat to Eastern Washington (Nov. 8) in 2019
• A win or draw at Portland State would extend the streak to six matches and would be tied for the fifth-longest streak in school history
DRAWING THE LINE
• With their 1-1 result at Northern Arizona on Oct. 20, the Hornets collected their third consecutive draw and their sixth tie overall this season
• The six draws this year are the most in the Big Sky Conference entering the final week and are tied for the most in school history, matching the 2019 squad that finished 11-2-6 overall
• Sacramento State's three consecutive draws are the most since the Hornets played in those four straight draws against Pacific, Oregon, and Eastern Washington (twice) during the pandemic spring season
WE'LL HAVE A HOUSE PARTY
• Home, sweet home has been the mantra for the Hornets in 2024, finishing the year unbeaten at home with a 4-0-4 record following their draw against league-leading Montana on Oct. 18
• 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 eight-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 6-2-6 in its last 14 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 (9-0-1) and Idaho (7-0-1)
HOT SHOTS
• Sacramento State's 15 shot attempts against Northern Arizona marked the team's second-highest total of the year, trailing only the 20 attempts against Houston Baptist on Aug. 17
• The Hornets also finished with 10 shots on goal in that match against the Lumberjacks -- the most by a Sacramento State offense since the Hornets finished with 10 against Portland State in the pandemic-delayed 2020-21 spring season on April 11, 2021
• Sacramento State has posted double-digit shot attempts in six of its last seven matches
WHEN IT'S GOTTA BE CLEAN
• Palmatier's shutout in the team's scoreless draw with Montana on Oct. 18 was her fourth of the season and eighth of her career, moving her into a tie for seventh on the school's all-time list alongside Amy Seely (2000-02) and Jenny Lawrence (2005-08)
• Two 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 -- moving her into a tie for sixth on the school's all-time list with Kristy Milanese (1998-99)
IZZY DOES IT
• Palmatier enters the week ranked fourth in the Big Sky Conference in overall saves (73) and saves per match (4.56), tied for fourth in shutouts (4), and sixth in both save percentage (.777) and goals against average (1.32)
• 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
SHE'S A KEEPER
• Palmatier's 31 matches (and 31 starts between the pipes) are tied for 10th and tied for eighth, respectively, on the school's all-time list
• After making nine saves last week against Montana (5) and Northern Arizona (4), the sophomore ranks 10th on the school's career chart, passing Mandy Trojan (2006-09) to break into the top 10
• If the season ended today, her 1.45 goals against average would rank eighth on the school's all-time list, while her 4.71 saves per match would be fourth
• Her 73 saves this season ties her career high and stands just 15 short of the school's single-season top 10 list
YOU GET A GOAL! YOU GET A GOAL!
• Of the Hornets' last eight goals (not counting the "own goal" against Idaho State on Oct. 4), six different players have accounted for those scores with Sydney Sharts and Abigail Lopez netting two goals apiece along with Candace Ching, Ellie Farber, Ariana Scholten, and Madelyn Dougherty
• In addition, six different players have assisted on those eight goals, with Lopez notching a pair
WINNER WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER
• Four different Hornets have accounted for game-winning goals this season: Abigail Lopez (CSUN), Ellie Farber (Weber State), Madelyn Dougherty (Houston Christian), and Sydney Sharts (Idaho State)
• In addition, Farber (UC Santa Barbara), Lopez (Cal State Bakersfield & Northern Colorado), and Dougherty (Northern Arizona) have tallied game-tying goals in four of the team's six draws
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 124 career shots are ninth on the all-time list, standing just two 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)
HIGH FIVE?
• With one regular season match 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 (38), fourth in shots per game (2.38), tied for seventh in points (11), tied for eighth in goals scored (4), and tied for eighth in assists (3)
