SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Amidst a stretch that has the Sacramento State women's soccer team playing on the road six times in seven games, the Hornets host their only match of that run this week, welcoming CSUN for a 1 p.m. kickoff on Thursday (Sept. 12). Sacramento State then hits the road to take on Cal State Bakersfield on Sunday (Sept. 15) at 1 p.m. to close out the week. The match against the Matadors is the opening half of a doubleheader with the Hornet men's team, which hosts San Francisco at 4 p.m. following the women's contest.

THIS WEEK…
MATCH #7
WHAT: CSUN (1-5) at Sacramento State (1-3-2)
WHEN: Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024
TIME: 1 p.m.
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
STADIUM: Hornet Soccer Field
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: HornetStats.com
TICKETS: HornetSports.com

MATCH #8
WHAT: Sacramento State (1-3-2) at Cal State Bakersfield (1-6)
WHEN: Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024
TIME: 1 p.m.
WHERE: Bakersfield, Calif.
STADIUM: CSUB Main Soccer Field
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: HornetStats.com

GAME NOTES
Sacramento State | CSUN | Cal State Bakersfield

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 CSUN
• The Matadors enter the week with a 1-5 overall record, but hasn't played since a 2-1 loss at Oregon back on Sept. 1
• CSUN has lost its last two overall, falling at Denver (2-0) following a 2-1 win over LMU on Aug. 25 at home
• The Matadors are 0-4 on the road this season, falling at California Baptist (1-0) and No. 8 Texas Tech (4-0) in addition to the Pioneers and Ducks
• Thursday's match in Sacramento is the last in a run of three straight on the road for CSUN
• The Matadors have been outscored, 12-4, on the year and out-shot, 123-49
• Junior forward Cailey Jackson leads the team with two goals and four points on the year
• Freshman forward Jordyn Canister and junior midfielder Jackie Victorio have also found the back of the net
• Junior goalkeeper Riley Liebsack has played every minute in net, posting a 2.00 goals against average and 37 saves (.755 save percentage) on the year

SERIES NOTABLES
• CSUN leads the all-time series with Sacramento State, 7-2-1
• The Matadors are unbeaten in their last seven meetings (6-0-1) with the Hornets dating back to the 1998 season
• Thursday marks the first meeting between the two programs since 2018 -- A 2-1 CSUN win in overtime in Sacramento
• The Hornets and Matadors were Big Sky Conference rivals from 1996-2000, with CSUN leading that series, 4-2
• Sacramento State's last win in the series came on Oct. 17, 1997, with a 3-1 win at home
• Both of the Hornets' wins in the series -- as well as the lone draw -- have come at home when you include a 1-0 win in the first-ever meeting between the two on Sept. 22, 1996

SCOUTING CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD
• The Roadrunners enter the week with a 1-6 overall record and hosts LMU on Sept. 12 before welcoming the Hornets
• Cal State Bakersfield has lost its last four -- three of those by single goals -- dating back to a 2-1 win over Weber State on Aug. 25
• Last week, the Roadrunners lost a pair to UNLV (3-1) and Fresno State (2-1) to close out a run of four straight on the road
• CSUB has been outscored, 19-8, and out-shot, 126-66, this year
• Senior forward Karen Flores leads the team with a pair of goals -- one of seven Roadrunners to score this year
• Senior Hollee Hercik and junior Kamy Anaya have split time in net, with Hercik posting a team-best 2.57 goals against average and 25 saves (.735 save percentage)
• Head Coach Bernardo Silva spent five years as an assistant and associate head coach from 2018-22

SERIES NOTABLES
• Sacramento State leads the all-time series with Cal State Bakersfield, 8-1-3
• The Hornets are unbeaten in the last nine meetings (6-0-3) with the Roadrunners, with the last three meetings all ending in draws: 2021 (1-1), 2022 (2-2), 2023 (1-1)
• Sacramento State has the last win in the series, posting a 2-0 win on the road in 2019
• The Roadrunners' only win in the series came in 2010, when they posted a 2-1 victory on a neutral field at the Redhawk Invitational in Seattle, Wash.
• Sacramento State is 5-0-1 on the road against Cal State Bakersfield, with the only draw coming in a 2-2 result in 2022
• Only three of the 12 all-time meetings have been decided by a single goal
• One of the teams has scored multiple goals in all but two of the matches in the series

CONFERENCE CALL
• This week's matches against CSUN and Cal State Bakersfield mark the fourth and fifth opponents from the Big West Conference this year for the Hornets
• Sacramento State has also faced UC Davis (L, 2-0); UC Santa Barbara (T, 1-1); and Cal Poly (T, 0-0)
• Sacramento State is 26-53-14 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
• Including this year's meeting, the 25 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
• Sacramento State is just 1-4-5 in its last 10 against Big West opponents since 2022
• The Hornets' last win over a Big West school was on Aug. 31 of last year thanks to a 1-0 triumph over UC Riverside at home

IZZY DOES IT
• A week after posting a career-high 11 saves in a scoreless draw with Cal Poly on Aug. 29, sophomore goalkeeper was almost as busy against Oregon on Sunday
• Palmatier finished with 10 stops against the Ducks on Aug. 8, marking her third career match with double-digit saves
• 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 by a Hornet keeper since Mia Shalit finished with the same number against Northern Arizona on Oct. 21, 2022
• The 11 stops are tied for the most in a match by a Big Sky keeper as of Sept. 9, matched only by Montana's Bayliss Flynn on Sept. 8 at Wyoming, while the 10 saves against Oregon are tied for third
• Palmatier enters the week ranked third in the Big Sky Conference in save percentage (.767), third in overall saves (33), and leads the league in saves per game (5.50)

WHEN IT'S GOTTA BE CLEAN
• Palmatier's shutout in the scoreless draw with Cal Poly was the fifth of her career, moving her into a tie for 10th on the all-time list along with Shelby Tomasello (2010-12)
• One more and she will tie Mia Shalit (2021-23) for ninth, while four more this season will make her only the seventh Hornet keeper to reach double digits in the category

NO QUIT IN MANDAQUIT
• Freshman Jaety Mandaquit has been difficult to take off the field for the Hornets during her debut season, playing in a team-high 500 of a possible 540 minutes thus far through six matches
• Mandaquit is one of six Hornets field players to have started all six matches thus far

THE FAR(BER) SIDE
• Sophomore Ellie Farber, who leads the team with a pair of goals and an assist on the season, enters the week among the top 10 in a number of Big Sky categories
• Farber ranks sixth in the league with 2.33 shots per match and stands seventh overall with 14 attempts
• Her two goals scored are tied for fifth, while her five points are tied for sixth
• With her goal and assist against Houston Christian on Aug. 17, Farber became the first Hornet with a three-point match since Ariana Nino had a goal and an assist at Idaho in the closing minutes of a 2-1 victory on Oct. 16, 2022

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 this week's matches with 11 career goals and five assists for 27 points
• She needs two more goals this season to break into the career top 10 in that category, while nine more points gets Lopez onto that top-10 list
• Her 98 career shots are also 14 back of 10th
• 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)