SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento State junior forward Donovan Sessoms was one of 11 student-athletes named to the preseason All-Big West Conference squad on Thursday as the league office announced its preseason coaches poll and honor roll heading into the 2025 campaign.
Sessoms, an All-Big West first-team selection as a sophomore in 2024, became the seventh Hornet to earn preseason all-conference honors and the first since Austin Wehner made the team in 2023. He joins a group that includes former Sacramento State standouts Cesar Castillo (2012), Isaac Ikyurav (2013), Brad Bumgarner (2016), Paul Goyer (2017), and Oscar Govea (2021).
The Antelope, Calif., native finished the 2024 campaign with a team-high 10 goals and 20 points, ranking as one of the top offensive seasons in school history. His 10 scores — the most since Chris Bettencourt finished with 11 in 2010 — rank tied for ninth on the school's single-season list, while his 20 points were 10th. Half of Sessoms' 10 goals were game winners — a total that ranked second on the school's single-season list and No. 5 in the nation.
Among returning Big West players, Sessoms' 10 goals are tied for the third-most among active players in the league, while his 20 points are tied for fifth. Last season, he ranked third in the Big West with 48 shot attempts and led the league with 2.67 shots per match, while standing fifth in the league in points, fourth in points per game (1.11), fourth in goals, and third in goals per game (0.56).
Sacramento State officially kicks off the 2025 campaign on the road on Aug. 21, traveling to the Bay Area to take on No. 13 Stanford at 7 p.m. The Hornets make their home debut three days later on Aug. 24, welcoming Utah Tech for a 1 p.m. kick off.
2025 BIG WEST CONFERENCE MEN'S SOCCER PRESEASON COACHES POLL
1. UC Santa Barbara (3 first-place votes) - 73 points
2. Cal Poly (3) - 71
3. UC Davis (4) - 69
4. UC Irvine - 57
5. Cal State Fullerton - 45
6. Cal State Bakersfield - 37
7. CSUN - 31
8. UC Riverside - 24
9. UC San Diego - 22
10. Sacramento State - 21
2025 PRESEASON ALL-BIG WEST CONFERENCE TEAM
Luka Geishauser, Jr., Defender, Cal State Bakersfield, Dusseldorf, Germany
Cason Goodman, Sr., Forward, UC Davis, Santa Barbara, Calif.
Diego Guerra, Jr., Midfielder, Cal Poly, Fresno, Calif.
Zack Lillington, Sr., Midfielder, UC Davis, Fairfax, Calif.
Quinn Mahoney, So., Forward, Cal Poly, Sacramento, Calif.
Nicky McCune, Jr., Goalkeeper, Cal Poly, Denver, Colo.
Calle Mollerberg, So., Defender, UC Santa Barbara, Stockholm, Sweden
Parker Owens, Jr., Defender, Cal Poly, Southlake, Texas
Agaton Pourshahidi, Sr., Midfielder, UC Irvine, Stockholm, Sweden
Donovan Sessoms, Jr., Forward, Sacramento State, Antelope, Calif.
Brady Treinen, Jr., Defender, UC Irvine, Tustin, Calif.
