SACRAMENTO, Calif. — As the 2025 regular season winds down, the Sacramento State women's soccer team hits the road for the final time this season, traveling to first-place Montana on Sunday (Oct. 19) for an 11 a.m. PT kick-off in Missoula, Mont. It's the first of two single-match weeks for the Hornets to close out the year as Sacramento State will host Portland State next Sunday.
MATCH #17
WHAT: Sacramento State (6-9-1 overall, 2-3-1 Big Sky) at Montana (9-3-3, 3-1-2 Big Sky)
WHEN: Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025
WHERE: Missoula, Mont.
TIME: 11 AM PT
STADIUM: South Campus Stadium
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: GoGriz.com
WEEKLY NOTES: Sacramento State | Montana | Big Sky Conference
O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAINS!
• Senior Isabella Vinsonhaler and junior Ellie Farber have been named captains for 2025
• This year marks the fourth time that Vinsonhaler has been named a team captain, while Farber was named a team captain for the first time in her Hornet career as a sophomore in 2024
UPDATE YOUR CALENDARS
• There has been an adjustment to the schedule for the Hornets' regular season finale against Portland State
• Due to a Big Sky rule, that match will now kick-off at Noon, instead of the originally scheduled 3 p.m. start
SCOUTING MONTANA
• The Grizzlies enter the week with a 9-3-3 overall record and a 3-1-2 mark in the Big Sky for 11 points and a spot atop the league table
• Montana is unbeaten in its last five matches (3-0-2), having not lost since a 2-1 defeat at Northern Arizona to kick-off conference play on Sept. 28
• Ten of the team's 15 matches this year have come at home this season where the Grizzlies are 8-1-1
• Montana has won seven straight at home dating back to a 2-0 loss to Baylor on Aug. 24
• Senior midfielder Chloe Seelhoff is one of three players with double-digit points, leading the team with seven goals and six assists for 20 points
• Offensively, Montana has outscored opponents by a 27-9 count
• Junior goalkeeper Ashlyn Dvorak has started 12 of the team's 15 matches, posting a 0.56 goals against average (7 goals allowed) in 1,125 minutes, while making 37 saves (.841 save percentage) and posting six shutouts
SERIES NOTABLES
• Montana leads the all-time series with Sacramento State, 20-7-8
• The Grizzlies are unbeaten in their last 14 meetings with the Hornets, posting a 10-0-4 record in that span
• Sacramento State's last win in the series -- and its last win in Missoula -- came on Oct. 4, 2013, via a 3-0 victory
• That win was the last in a five-match (4-0-1) unbeaten run for the Hornets and part of a larger stretch where they were 6-1-4 against Montana from 2004-13
• Sacramento State is just 2-9-4 against the Grizzlies on their home field, including an 0-4-2 record in the last six meetings in Missoula
• Eight of the last nine meetings have ended in a shutout for either team
BIG SKY BIG PICTURE
• As the regular season winds down, Sacramento State is one of three schools tied for fourth in the league standings with Idaho State and Portland State
• The Bengals hold the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Hornets by virtue of their win last week, while Sacramento State hosts the Vikings in the last week of the season
• Those three schools are only four points back of league-leading Montana and two points behind Weber State for one of two first-round byes for the conference tournament
WELCOME BACK!
• When Sacramento State lands in Missoula on Saturday, the Hornets will be returning to the same South Campus Stadium field where they made a historic run en route to the Big Sky Conference Tournament title
• As the No. 5 seed, Sacramento State advanced past No. 4 Northern Arizona, No. 1 Montana, and No. 2 Idaho -- all in penalty kicks -- on its way to the crown
• It has not been a hospitable place in the past for the Hornets as, aside from its 2-9-4 record against the host Grizzlies at South Campus Stadium, Sacramento State is winless (0-1-2) in three neutral Big Sky Tournament matches on Montana's home field
• The defending tournament champs hopes that this weekend's trip is not its last to Missoula this year as Montana hosts the 2025 Big Sky Championships once again on Nov. 5-9
SIX OF ONE, HALF A DOZEN OF ANOTHER
• With the win over Eastern Washington on Oct. 5, the Hornets surpassed their overall win total from all of last season (5-7-9), posting the program's highest win total since the 2019 squad finished 11-2-6 overall and 5-0-4 in league play
• Sacramento State's four victories in non-conference play are the most for the program since the Hornets won six matches outside of Big Sky Conference play also during that 2019 campaign
HANG TEN
• Facing a flurry of 32 shots from the Weber State offense, Sacramento State junior goalkeeper Izzy Palmatier has a busy afternoon between the pipes finishing with 10 saves in 62 minutes
• The 10 stops marked the fifth time that Palmatier has finished with double-digit saves in a match in her career, falling just one short of her career high of 11 set against Cal Poly last season and matched earlier this year against Hawaii
• The 11 stops this season are the most by a Big Sky goalkeeper this year and Palmatier owns three of the top 10 single-match save totals in the league
MOVIN' ON UP
• Coupled with her four saves against Idaho State, Palmatier finished with 14 saves last week, upping her career total to 249 entering this week's match
• The total solidifies the Folsom, Calif., natives hold on fourth place on the school's career list and places her just two saves back of Amy Seely (2000-02) for third
• With her shutout of Eastern Washington, Palmatier also tightened her grip on third place on the school's all-time list in that category with 16, putting her two back of Aailyah Fesili (2017-21)
• Among the school's all-time top 10, Palmatier stands third in matches played (49), sixth in victories (13), and became only the fourth Hornet goalkeeper to surpass 4,000 career minutes in net (4,336), closing in on third on that list
• If the season ended today, her career 5.08 saves per game would rank third on the school's all-time list, while her 1.48 goals against average would be eighth
IZZY DOES IT
• Entering the week, Palmatier leads the Big Sky in total saves (69) and is tops in saves per match (5.31), while standing sixth in save percentage (.775)
• She also stands eighth with a 1.64 goals against average, is tied for third in overall shutouts (5), and is just out of the top spot in shutouts per match (0.39)
• Nationally, Palmatier is No. 34 in the NCAA in saves per game and No. 31 in total saves, while ranking No. 60 in shutouts
A FULL 90
• Junior defender Dalen Lau's best ability has been her availability on the back line for the Hornets, having playing a full 90 minutes for the Hornets in eight of her last nine outings and 13 of the team's 16 matches -- the latter surpassing her total from all of 2024
• Sophomore defender Jaety Mandaquit is second on the team with nine "complete games," while freshman Aryana Martinez is close behind with eight
