SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento State sophomore goalkeeper Izzy Palmatier was named the Big Sky Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Week on Tuesday afternoon after helping the Hornets post a shutout over Portland State on the road in the team's regular season finale.
For Palmatier, it was her second defensive award of the season and the third of her career, last earning the honor on Sept. 3 following a career-high 11-save performance against Cal Poly in a scoreless draw with the Mustangs.
Her three career defensive player of the week awards are tied for the third-most in school history behind fellow Sacramento State goalkeeper alums Aaliyah Fesili (six) and Savannah Abercrombie (five). Palmatier is the first Hornet — and the first Sacramento State goalkeeper — to win a pair of weekly defensive awards since defender Aubrey Goodwill and Fesili each did it twice in the 2020-21 spring season.
The Folsom, Calif., native finished with six saves and posted her fifth shutout of the season in the Hornets' rainy victory over the Vikings on Sunday (Oct. 27), posting her highest single-match save total since stopping six shots at Idaho on Sept. 27. Sacramento State scored the contests' lone goal in the first minute of the match and Palmatier and the defense made it stand for the next 89 minutes, including four saves by the sophomore in the second half as Portland State pressed for the equalizer.
Palmatier's performance helped Sacramento State extend its unbeaten streak to six consecutive matches heading into next week's Big Sky Tournament, finishing 3-0-3 in those matches — including three shutouts by Palmatier against Weber State, regular season champion Montana, and the Vikings, allowing only three goals over the 535:19 in that stretch (0.50 goals against average).
The six saves on Sunday give Palmatier a career-high 79 stops this season and brings her career total to 152 over the last two years, already ranking her ninth on the school's career list.
In addition, her five shutouts this year are tied for 10th on the school's single-season list, while her nine career clean sheets are seventh on the school's all-time list, standing just one shy of Kristy Milanese (1998-99) for sixth.
Sacramento State opens the postseason as the No. 5 seed at the Big Sky Tournament in Missoula, Mont., taking on fourth-seeded Northern Arizona in the opening round on Nov. 6 at 1 p.m. PT. The Hornets and Lumberjacks battled to a 1-1 draw in Flagstaff on Oct. 20.
