SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The 32nd season of Sacramento State women's soccer officially gets underway this week as the reigning Big Sky Conference Tournament champions kick-off their 2025 campaign with a road match under the lights at Pacific on Thursday (Aug. 14) at 7 p.m. It's the first of three straight contests away from home for Sacramento State, which does not play its first home match until Aug. 28 against UC Irvine.
THIS WEEK
MATCH #1
WHAT: Sacramento State (5-7-9, 3-2-3 Big Sky in 2024) at Pacific (2-17-1, 0-10 WCC in 2024)
WHEN: Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025
WHERE: Stockton, Calif.
TIME: 7 PM
STADIUM: Knoles Field
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: PacificTigers.com
WEEKLY NOTES: Sacramento State | Pacific | Big Sky Conference
O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAINS!
• Senior Isabella Vinsonhaler and junior Ellie Farber have been named captains for the 2025 campaign
• 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
IN THE RANKINGS
• Neither Sacramento State, nor Pacific, are listed in the preseason rankings to start 2025
SCOUTING PACIFIC
• Pacific enters the 2025 campaign after finishing 2-17-1 overall and 0-10 in the West Coast Conference last year
• The Tigers enter the season having lost their last 10 consecutive matches dating back to a 1-0 win at UC San Diego on Sept. 22 of last year
• Pacific has also lost its last nine straight at home after opening the 2024 season with a 2-1 win over Houston Christian on Aug. 15
• The Tigers lost three of their top five scorers from a season ago with sophomore forward Sierah McCallum (4 goals, 9 points) and grad forward Taylor Curtis (1 goal, 3 assists) standing as the top returning scorers
• After using three goalkeepers a season ago, Pacific will have a new face in net for 2025 as San Jose State transfer Drew Novaes, grad Juliana Alexander (who missed all of 2024), and freshman Lis Van Herwijnen make up a new trio between the pipes
• Head Coach Jeff Freeman is in his first year at the helm after spending the last 14 years at Illinois -- the last eight as Associate Head Coach
• Returning 15 letter winners off last season's roster, the Tigers also feature an influx of new talent with nine newcomers (seven freshmen and two transfers) among the new faces
SERIES NOTABLES
• Pacific leads the all-time series with Sacramento State by a 17-4-5 count
• The Tigers are unbeaten in the last four meetings (3-0-1) with the Hornets, outscoring Sacramento State by a 12-5 count in that stretch
• The two programs last met in 2023 in Sacramento with Pacific posting a come-from-behind 3-2 victory, scoring in the 82nd and 86th minutes to erase a 2-1 Hornet lead
• Sacramento State's last win in the series came on Sept. 5, 2019, posting a 2-0 victory at home
• The Hornets haven't won a match in Stockton since the 2013 campaign when they finished off a 2-1 win on Sept. 22 of that year
• Sacramento State is 2-10-1 on the road against Pacific
CONFERENCE CALL
• Pacific is the only West Coast Conference opponent for Sacramento State this year
• The Hornets are 16-52-8 against current WCC schools, which includes affiliate members -- and former Pac-12 rivals -- Washington State (0-1) and Oregon State (3-3) as well as league newcomer Seattle U (formerly of the Western Athletic Conference)
• Sacramento State is winless in its last seven meetings (0-6-1) with WCC opponents, last posting a win over Saint Mary's by a 2-1 score in double overtime on Feb. 11 of the pandemic-delayed 2020-21 spring season
FOR OPENERS
• Sacramento State is 9-20-2 in regular season openers dating back to 1994
• The Hornets are 0-3-1 in their last four openers, with the lone result 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
• This year marks the fourth time that the Hornets and Pacific will open the season against one another and the first time since 2008
• The Tigers have won all three of the previous season-opening clashes betweem the two schools: 1998 in Sacramento (1-0), 2002 in Sacramento (1-0), and 2008 in Stockton (2-0)
POLL POSITION
• Sacramento State was picked to finish in a tie for fourth in the regular Big Sky Conference standings according to a preseason vote of the league's head coaches released on Monday (Aug. 11)
• The Hornets received 39 points total and one first-place vote to match Northern Arizona, which also picked up 39 points
• Reigning regular season champion Montana was picked to repeat, receiving six first-place votes and 60 points, followed by Eastern Washington (52, 2 first-place votes), and Idaho (49) in the top three
PRESEASON LAURELS FOR SHARTS, FARBER
• Senior defender Sydney Sharts and junior midfielder Ellie Farber were both selected to the 12-member preseason All-Big Sky team
• The duo becomes the first two Hornets to earn preseason all-conference laurels in the first year that the league has released a preseason honor roll
ROAD WARRIORS
• With matches at Pacific and a pair of contests in Hawaii against Oregon and Central Arkansas, the 2025 campaign marks the first time since 2018 tht the Hornets will play three straight matches away from home to start a season
FARBER STAYING ACTIVE
• Farber enters the 2025 season ranked eighth among active Big Sky players in career shot attempts (68) and fifth in shots per game (1.74), while also standing fifth in career assists (6)
• The junior's six assists and 12 total points are the most among returning Hornets, while her three goals are tied with Ariana Scholten's three in the green and gold for second on the team behind only Teysha-Ray Spinney-Kuahuia, who has four
IZZY DOES IT
• Now in her third season between the pipes for the Hornets, redshirt junior goalkeeper Izzy Palmatier is making her way up a number of school all-time lists
• A two-year starter who was named to the Big Sky All-Tournament Team in 2024, enters this season ranked No. 7 on the program's all-time saves list with 180, just three behind Jenny Lawrence (2005-08) for sixth and 16 shy of the top five
• Stacy Himes (1994-97) holds the school record with 354 career stops
• Palmatier also ranks among the top 10 in goalkeeper wins (9), shutouts (11), games played (36), games started (36), and minutes (3,239), while holding spots in the top 10 in saves per game (currently third) and goals against average (currently eighth)
• Among active Big Sky keepers, Palmatier leads the league in shutouts, is third in saves, and is second in saves per game, save percentage, and goals against average
TRADING THE SKY FOR THE WEST
• The 2025 season will be the Hornets' final season in the Big Sky Conference as all of Sacramento State's athletic teams outside of football will transition to the Big West Conference beginning with the 2026-27 school year
• The Hornets will be leaving the only conference that they have ever known, as the women's soccer program has competed as a Big Sky member since the 1996 campaign -- just two years after Sacramento State began sponsoring the sport in 1994
• Three of the Hornets' future Big West rivals are on the schedule for the 2025 campaign in UC Irvine (Aug. 28), CSUN (Sept. 11), and UC Santa Barbara (Sept. 14)
HORNETS AT A GLANCE
• Sacramento State is coming off a storybook 2024 campaign that saw the Hornets finish 5-7-9 overall and 3-2-3 in the Big Sky Conference, eventually becoming the first school in league history to win the conference tournament all via penalty kick results
• The Hornets won the title, and ensuing NCAA Tournament berth, for the third time in school history and the first since 2010, falling to top-seeded USC, 5-0, in the first round
• Sacramento State returns 15 letter winners and eight starters off of last season squad, welcoming 11 newcomers -- five of those transfers -- and a pair of returning redshirts to the fold for 2025
• Six of the eight players who found the back of the net for the Hornets last season return for this season led by junior midfielder Ellie Farber, who finished with three goals and three assists in 2024
• Candace Ching, Ariana Scholten, Sydney Sharts, and Teysha-Ray Spinney-Kuahuia all finished with a pair of goals, while Lexi Schroeder netted her first career strike in the Big Sky Tournament
• In net, junior goalkeeper Izzy Palmatier returns after starting all 21 matches and playing in all but five minutes of last season's campaign, posting a 1.30 goals against average and 107 saves to go with five shutouts
• Sophomore keeper Sierra Sonko also returns after picking up Big Sky Tournament MVP honors thanks to her performances in penalties when she saved 6-of-18 attempts
NEW FACE ON THE BENCH
• Janae Braun joins the Hornets' sideline as a volunteer assistant coach in 2025
• Braun was an assistant at Causeway rival UC Davis for the last two seasons (2023-24)
• Was a two-year letter winner for the Aggies in 2018-19 after spending her first two collegiate seasons at Santa Clara in 2015-16
• Also brings an extensive international and professional playing resume, competing with the Mexican U17 National Team while also playing with Club America, Mazatlan FC, and the WPSL's Califormia Storm, while also becoming a member of the inaugural USA Futsal National Team
TIE ME A RIVER
• With nine draws in 2024, Sacramento State set a new single-season school record for ties, surpassing the previous mark of six set in 2019
• The nine draws were also tied for the most in the nation, joining Wyoming (4-6-9), UC Santa Barbara (8-6-9), and Towson (6-4-9)
• Last year's total fell just one shy of the NCAA single-season mark of 10 shared by Canisius (5-5-10), Pacific (7-3-10), and Indiana State (2-6-10) -- all coming in 2022 when the NCAA first eliminated overtime for regular season matches
• Sacramento State's scoreless draw against Idaho in last season's Big Sky Championship match was the team's fourth of the year, standing just two shy of the NCAA record of six set by Indiana in 2022
WE'LL HAVE A HOUSE PARTY
• It'll take a couple of weeks but, when the Hornets finally take the field at home against UC Irvine on Aug. 28, they will put an eight-match (4-0-4) unbeaten home streak on the line
• Sacramento State hasn't lost at home since a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Idaho on Oct. 8, 2023
• The four wins at Hornet Soccer Field in 2024 were the most since the 2019 squad finished unbeaten with a 7-0-2 mark on their home turf
• The eight-match home unbeaten streak is the third-longest in school history, trailing only the 17-match (14-0-3) run from Oct. 1, 2006 to Aug. 29, 2008, and a 13-match (8-0-5) run from Aug. 25, 2019 to March 21, 2021
• Sacramento State is 6-2-6 in its last 14 matches on its home turf dating back to 2023
STATE OF THE HORNETS
• When Sacramento State takes the field in 2025, those in the green and gold will represent six different states
• Of the 28 student-athletes on this year's roster, 17 of those hail from California, five from the state of Hawaii (Dalen Lau, Teysha-Ray Spinney-Kuahuia, Jaety Mandaquit, Candace Ching, and Payton Inabata), two from the state of Colorado (Elyse McGinnis and Ella Wilcox), two from the state of Washington (Sierra Sonko and Shawna Larson), one from the state of Illinois (Cynthia Waller), and one from Idaho (Isabella Vinsonhaler)
• Sonko and Larson are the first Hornets from the "Evergreen State" since Caitlin Prothe wrapped up her career in 2018
• Wilcox and McGinnis are the first Colorado natives since Courtney Gorham finished her four years in 2005
• Waller is the first-ever Hornet to hail from the state of Illinois
