SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento State women's soccer team officially opens its 2024 season with a pair of matches this week, heading across the Causeway to take on UC Davis before hosting Houston Christian at Hornet Field. The annual Hornet-Aggie clash begins at 5 p.m. on Thursday (Aug. 15), before the Huskies pay a visit to the capital city on Saturday (Aug. 17) at 1 p.m.
THIS WEEK…
MATCH #1
WHAT: Sacramento State (0-0, 0-0 Big Sky) at UC Davis (0-0, 0-0 Big West)
WHEN: Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024
TIME: 5 p.m.
WHERE: Davis, Calif.
STADIUM: Aggie Soccer Field
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: HornetSports.com
MATCH #2
WHAT: Houston Christian (0-0, 0-0 Southland) at Sacramento State (0-0, 0-0 Big Sky)
WHEN: Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024
TIME: 1 p.m.
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
STADIUM: Hornet Soccer Field
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: HornetSports.com
GAME NOTES
Sacramento State | UC Davis | Houston Christian
NEVER TOO EARLY TO CELEBRATE
• Saturday's contest against Houston Christian will see the Hornets salute their seniors with an early-season "Senior Day" ceremony prior to kick off at 12:45 p.m.
WE'LL DO IT LIVE!
• Every home match during the 2024 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 women's soccer schedule page at HornetSports.com
O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAINS!
• Seniors Abigail Lopez and Isabella Vinsonhaler, along with junior Madelyn Dougherty and sophomore Ellie Farber, have been selected as captains for the 2024 season
• This is the third straight season that Vinsonhaler has been named a team captain, while Lopez and Dougherty were captains in 2023
SCOUTING UC DAVIS
• The Aggies are coming off a 2023 season that saw them finish 10-7-2 overall and 6-2-2 in Big West Conference play
• UC Davis finished second in the regular season standings before falling to No. 3 Cal Poly in the conference tournament semifinals
• The Aggies lost two of their top three scorers from last season, but senior Sam Tristan returns to the lineup after finishing with six goals and four assists for 16 points in 19 starts
• Devyn Simmons, who finished with three goals as a reserve in 19 matches last year, along with Sarah Canavan and Emma Vane, who scored two goals apiece, also return
• Senior goalkeeper Caeley Goldstein is the incumbent in net, posting a 1.01 goals against average while starting all 19 matches in 2023
• Goldstein also stopped 74 shots (.796 save percentage) and posted seven shutouts last season
SERIES NOTABLES
• UC Davis leads the all-time series with Sacramento State by a 15-5-4 count
• The Aggies are unbeaten in the last five meetings with the Hornets (4-0-1)
• Thursday's meeting will be the first in Davis since the 2021 season when UC Davis edged Sacramento State, 1-0
• The Hornets are just 2-7-1 on the road against the Aggies
• Sacramento State's last win in the series with UC Davis came on Sept. 11, 2017, posting a 1-0 victory on the road
SCOUTING HOUSTON CHRISTIAN
• The Huskies are coming off a 2023 season in which they finished 7-11 overall and 4-6 in Southland Conference play
• After a win over Texas A&M-Commerce, Houston Christian reached the semifinals of the Southland Conference Tournament, falling to third-seeded McNeese State, 1-0
• The Huskies return their top three scorers from 2023, paced by junior midfielder Alexa Huerta, who finished with five goals and three assists for 13 points on 46 shots
• Sophomore forward Olivia Rossman (four goals, two assists) and graduate midfielder Katie Marker (four goals, one assist) also return
• Junior goalkeeper Chloe Bagshaw started 14 of the team's 18 matches in net last season, finishing with a 2.00 goals against average
• She also posted 41 saves (.594 save percentage) and a pair of shutouts in 2023
SERIES NOTABLES
• Saturday's meeting between the Hornets and the Huskies will be the first between the two schools in women's soccer
• The schools have met in men's soccer (2008), men's basketball (2009), and baseball (four games in 2022)
CONFERENCE CALL
• Sacramento State is 26-52-12 against Big West Conference schools since 1994
• The Hornets have faced 10 of the league's 11 current members, having met all but UC San Diego in that span
• The 24 matches against UC Davis are the most for the Hornets against any Big West school
• Sacramento State's eight wins over Cal State Bakersfield are the most against any Big West opponent
• The Hornets were 1-3-1 against the Big West in 2023, posting a win over UC Riverside and a draw with the Roadrunners
• Saturday's meeting with Houston Christian is the first-ever Southland Conference opponent for Sacramento State
FOR OPENERS
• Sacramento State is 9-19-2 in regular season openers dating back to 1994
• The Hornets are 0-2-1 in their last three openers, posting a 1-1 draw with Cal State Bakersfield to kick-off the 2023 campaign
• Sacramento State last won a season opener back in the pandemic-delayed 2020-21 spring season, posting a 2-1 double-overtime win over Saint Mary's
• Thursday marks the third time in the last four years -- and the fourth time in the last six seasons -- that the Hornets open the year with a road match
• Sacramento State is 2-8-1 when opening the season on the road, losing its last three dating back to a 2-1 Hornet win at Saint Mary's in 2017
• Thursday marks the eighth time that rivals Sacramento State and UC Davis will open the season against one another and the first since a 3-1 win by the Aggies in 2019
• UC Davis leads the "series" in season openers with a 5-1-1 record
• The Hornets' only win over UC Davis in a season opener came in 2005 by a 1-0 score in Davis
• Sacramento State also has a 1-1 draw with the Aggies on the road to start the 2009 season
POLL POSITION
• Mirroring its finish from the 2023 season, Sacramento State was picked to finish fifth in the Big Sky Conference standings in 2024 according to a vote of the league's head coaches released on Aug. 12
• The Hornets received 36 points overall in a tightly bunched middle of the pack, trailing Portland State by a point for fourth and leading Weber State by five points in sixth
• Reigning regular season champion Montana received five of the eight first-place votes and 56 points overall, followed by Northern Arizona (one first-place vote) with 51 points in second, and tournament champion and NCAA qualifier Idaho (two first-place votes) with 47 points in third
• Idaho State (23 points) in seventh, Eastern Washington (22 points) in eighth, and Northern Colorado (one first-place vote) with 21 points finished ninth
EXHIBITIONISTS
• Sacramento State opened the season with a pair of home exhibitions, falling to No. 22 Santa Clara on Aug. 7 before bouncing back to battle Fresno State to a draw
• Senior Cassandra Herrman netted a goal late in the match against the Bulldogs to give the Hornets an early lead, looping home a free kick from distance over the Fresno State keeper
• Senior Abigail Lopez accounted for seven shots in the two contests, including a team-high four against the Bulldogs
• Sophomore goalkeeper Izzy Palmatier finished with 13 saves in the two matches -- eight of those in the battle with the ranked Broncos
ALLOW ME TO REINTRODUCE MYSELF
• Fans of the Hornets will recognize most of the 2024 roster as Sacramento State returns 17 players, 10 starters, and six redshirts off of last season's squad
• Also among the 30-woman roster for this season are seven new faces, made up of three transfers and four true freshmen
• Overall, the Hornets lost only one starter (Sammy Wong) and four letter winners off of last season's roster
NOSE FOR THE GOAL
• Senior Abigail Lopez enters her final collegiate campaign knocking on the door of a few all-time lists in Hornet women's soccer history
• The three-time All-Big Sky Conference honoree enters the 2024 campaign with 11 career goals and four assists for 26 points
• She needs two more scores this season to break into the career top 10 in that category, while 10 more points gets Lopez on to that list
• Her 86 shots are also 26 back of 10th on the career chart
• After tying her personal single-season career high with four goals in 2023, Lopez has led the team in points twice in the last three seasons (10 in 2021 and eight in 2023)
STATE OF THE HORNETS
• When Sacramento State takes the field in 2024, those in the green and gold will represent five different states and the nation of Wales
• Of those 31 student-athletes, 19 of those hail from California, eight from Hawai'i (Ali Fuamatu-Ma'afala, Teysha-Ray Spinney-Kuahuia, Shaunee Egloria, Jaety Mandaquit, Candace Ching, Dalen Lau, Madelyn Dougherty, and Payton Inabata), with one each from Colorado (Ella Wilcox), Idaho (Isabella Vinsonhaler), Washington (Sierra Sonko), and the nation of South Wales (Zara Mujica)
• Sonko is the first Hornet from the "Evergreen State" since Caitlin Prothe wrapped up her stellar career in 2018
• Wilcox is the first Colorado native since Courtney Gorham finished her four years in 2005
OHANA MEANS FAMILY
• The eight Hawai'ians on this year's roster are two more than the Hornets had on their 2023 roster and are one shy of the number of "Aloha State" natives that University of Hawai'i has on its roster for 2024
A WALE(S) OF A NEWCOMER
• When she makes her first appearance between the pipes for the Hornets, goalkeeper Zara Mujica is the first player to suit up for the Hornets to hail from outside the United States since another keeper, Tiffany Genovese (Surrey, British Columbia), appeared in 11 matches as a freshman on the 2000 squad
• According to available records, those are the only two international players that Sacramento State has rostered in the history of the program
HALL OF FAMER
• Sacramento State Head Coach Randy Dedini added to his list of career accomplishments this past summer when he was inducted into the Pittsburgh Riverhounds Hall of Fame as part of the club's third class in July
• Dedini was a member of the inaugural Riverhounds team in 1999, playing five years in Pittsburgh
• He still holds club records for wins (57), shutouts (29), and matches played (125) while also holding the single-season mark with 136 saves in 1999, helping the club to its first playoff berth and victory that year
• He is also a member of Sonoma State's Hall of Fame, inducted in 2008 following an All-American playing career for the Seawolves
