SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The fight for a berth in the Big Sky Conference Tournament comes down to the final match for the Sacramento State women's soccer team, which hosts Portland State on Sunday (Oct. 26) at Noon at Hornet Soccer Field.
MATCH #18
WHAT: Portland State (3-8-4, 2-3-2 Big Sky) at Sacramento State (6-10-1 overall, 2-4-1 Big Sky)
WHEN: Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
TIME: Noon PT
STADIUM: Hornet Soccer Field
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: HornetSports.com
TICKETS: HornetSports.com
WEEKLY NOTES: Sacramento State | Portland State | 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
BIG SKY BIG PICTURE
• Montana clinched the Big Sky regular season title for the third-straight year thanks to its 1-0 win over Portland State on Thursday, but there's still plenty to play for in the final week
• Entering Friday, Sacramento State sits in a three-way tie for the sixth and final tournament seed along with Eastern Washington and Northern Colorado, but holds the head-to-head tiebreaker against both thanks to wins earlier in the year
• Both EWU and UNC play one another on Sunday
• Third-place Idaho (nine points) and last-place Northern Arizona (six points) are separated by just three points
SCOUTING PORTLAND STATE
• Following their loss to the Grizzlies on Thursday, the Vikings enter their final match of the regular season with a 3-8-4 overall record and a 2-3-2 mark in Big Sky play
• As of Thursday, Portland State is tied for fourth in the standings with Idaho State, but fell to the Bengals on Oct. 5 by a 1-0 score
• The Vikings are winless in their last four (0-2-2), having not won since a 1-0 victory over Northern Arizona on Oct. 9
• However, they have surrendered only one goal in each of those four contests
• Portland State is just 1-4-2 away from home, posting its only road win on Oct. 2 at Weber State (1-0)
• Senior forward Ocean Rideout leads the team with three goals and seven points
• Eight different players have accounted for the team's 12 goals on the year
• Junior goalkeeper Natalie Cunningham has started 11 of the team's 15 matches, posting a 1.27 goals against average and 52 saves to go along with a pair of shutouts
SERIES NOTABLES
• Sacramento State leads the all-time series with Portland State, 16-12-4
• The Hornets won the last meeting with the Vikings, batting through the rain to post a 1-0 win in Portland last season
• The victory snapped a three-match winless streak (0-2-1) against PSU
• That run followed three straight wins in the series by Sacramento State from 2019-21
• Each of the last three meetings between the two programs have ended in a shutout: a scoreless draw in 2022, a 1-0 Portland State win in 2023, and last year's 1-0 Sacramento State win
• Nine of the last 11 meetings between the two programs have been decided by a single goal
• In matches played in Sacramento, the series is tied, 5-5-1
• Sunday marks only the second home meeting with the Vikings in the last eight head-to-head contests (2023) and only the third in the last 11 meetings between the two
• Portland State has won the last two matches in Sacramento, adding a 1-0 win in 2018 to the win in 2023
• The Hornets' last victory at home came in 2015 by a 2-1 score in overtime
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
HOME, SWEET HOME
• When Sacramento State hosts Portland State on Sunday, it will mark the Hornets' first home match in three weeks after playing their last three Big Sky matches on the road
• Sacramento State has fond memories of its last match at home when it put up five goals in a shutout of Eastern Washington back on Oct. 5
FITTING FINISH
• Sunday marks the sixth time in the program's history that the Hornets will host Portland State in their home finale, posting a 3-1-1 record in those previous five matches
• The six meetings are the most of any opponent in program history, edging out the four home finales against Montana, Idaho State, and Weber State
MAKING THE ADJUSTMENT
• The Hornets' offense is clicking after the break this season, scoring 12 of their 16 goals in 2025 in the second half of matches
• All three of leading-scorer Lexi Schroeder's goals this season have come in the second half, while junior Tea Reyes has scored two of her three goals after the break
• In addition, three players -- Schroeder, Reyes, and Ella Wilcox -- have scored goals after the 80th minute this season
• All told, nine different players have accounted for the team's 12 second-half scores
• All five of the Hornets' goals scored in the win over Eastern Washington on Oct. 5 came in the second half -- the most since scoring five in the second half of a 6-2 win over Idaho State on Oct. 13, 2017
LET'S GET LAU-D
• Junior Dalen Lau's best ability has been her availability on the back line for the Hornets, standing as one of six players to start all 17 matches and playing a team-high 1,482 minutes
• Lau has played a full 90 minutes in each of her last three matches, gone the distance in nine of her last 10 contests, and finished a complete match in a career-high 14 of her 17 appearances
A FULL 90
• Along with Lau, a total of seven different Hornets have played a full 90 minutes at least once
• Sophomore defender Jaety Mandaquit is second behind Lau with 10 complete matches
• Freshman Aryana Martinez has cemented her place on the back line, going the distance nine times -- all coming in the last 11 matches
• Senior Isabella Vinsonhaler (7), freshman Elyse McGinnis (6), junior Ellie Farber (3), and junior Tea Reyes (1) have also accomplished the feat.
ONES TO WATCH
• Junior Lexi Schroeder leads the Hornets in scoring, netting three goals and assisting on two more for a team-high eight points
• Junior Tea Reyes is right behind Schroeder in her first Division I season, matching her teammate with three goals and an assist for seven points
• Reyes entered the week ranked seventh in the Big Sky Conference in shots (42) and ninth with a team-high 18 shots on goal
• Schroeder has put a team-high 58 percent of her shots on frame this year and ranks 10th in the league with 15 shots on goal
IZZY DOES IT
• Entering the week, Palmatier is third in the Big Sky in total saves (69) while ranking second in saves per match (5.31) and 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, standing third (0.39)
• Nationally, Palmatier is No. 36 in the NCAA in saves per game and No. 64 in total saves, while ranking No. 74 in shutouts
MOVIN' ON UP
• Thanks, in large part, to her 10-save performance at Weber State in her last start on Oct. 12, Palmatier upped her career total to 249 entering this week's finale
• The total solidifies the Folsom, Calif., native's 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 on Oct. 5, 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) for second
• 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
HANG TEN
• Palmatier's 10 stops against Weber State marked the fifth time that she 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 against the Rainbow Wahine are the second-most by a Big Sky goalkeeper this year -- holding the top spot until Northern Colorado's Kaya Lindberg finished with 13 against Idaho State on Oct. 17
• Palmatier owns two of the seven double-digit save performances by a Big Sky keeper entering this week's finales
