SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Trying to build upon the momentum of a season-opening shutout victory last week, the Sacramento State women's soccer team wings its way to Hawai'i to compete in the Outrigger Soccer Kickoff this week in Waipahu, O'ahu. The Hornets open against Oregon on Thursday (Aug. 21) at 7:30 p.m. PT, before closing the tournament against Central Arkansas on Sunday (Aug. 24) at 4:30 p.m. PT

THIS WEEK...
MATCH #2
WHAT: Sacramento State (1-0-0, 0-0 Big Sky) vs. Oregon (1-0-1, 0-0 Big Ten)
WHEN: Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025
WHERE: Waipahu, O'ahu
TIME: 7:30 PM PT
STADIUM: Waipio Peninsula Stadium
WATCH: No Live Stream
LIVE STATS: HawaiiAthletics.com (http://statb.us/b/594396)

MATCH #3
WHAT: Sacramento State (1-0-0, 0-0 Big Sky) vs. Central Arkansas (1-1, 0-0 ASUN)
WHEN: Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025
WHERE: Waipahu, O'ahu
TIME: 4:30 PM PT
STADIUM: Waipio Peninsula Stadium
WATCH: No Live Stream
LIVE STATS: HawaiiAthletics.com (http://statb.us/b/594398)

WEEKLY NOTES: Sacramento State (https://hornetsports.com/documents/2025/8/18/25-WSOC-notes-UO-UCA-081825.pdf) | Oregon (https://goducks.com/sports/womens-soccer) | Central Arkansas (https://ucasports.com/sports/womens-soccer) | Big Sky Conference (https://bigskyconf.com/sports/wsoc)

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

ALOHA!
• This week marks the Hornets' third trip to Hawai'i in the last six seasons and the sixth all-time in program history
• Sacramento State is 3-5-1 in matches played in the "Aloha State," having competed in a tournament there on three of its five previous trips
• However, this will be the first time that the Hornets will make the trip to Hawai'i and NOT face the host Rainbow Wahine, who pay a visit to Sacramento in two weeks on Sept. 4

KAMA'AINA... WELCOME HOME!
• This week's trip to Hawai'i marks a homecoming for five student-athletes on Sacramento State's roster who hail from the "Aloha State": Dalen Lau (Honolulu), Teysha-Ray Spinney-Kuahuia (Kailua Kona), Jaety Mandaquit (Hilo), Candace Ching (Mililani), and Payton Inabata (Aiea)
• Lau, Ching, and Inabata all attended the Punahou School, Spinney-Kuahuia prepped at Kealakehe HS, and Mandaquit attended the 'Iolani School before relocating to Utah
• The five Hawaiians on the Hornet roster are just one fewer than the number of Hawaiians on the roster for the host Rainbow Wahine

SCOUTING OREGON
• The Ducks enter the tournament with a 1-0-1 record after defeating Weber State (4-0) and drawing with Portland (0-0) at home to start the year
• The Ducks were picked 16th in the 18-team Big Ten preseason coaches poll, selected ahead of only Indiana and Maryland
• Sixth-year forward Taylor Bryan scored twice in the win over the Wildcats, while junior forward Lauren Kenny has a goal and a team-high eight shots
• Goalkeeper Caeley Goldstein, a transfer from UC Davis who started her career at Washington, has made nine saves against 21 shots in 175 minutes
• Oregon finished 5-11-2 overall and was 1-8-2 in the Big Ten a season ago
• The Ducks are under the direction of first-year head coach Tracy Joyner, who spent the last five seasons as head coach at UC Davis, earning Big West Coach of the Year honors in 2023 and winning 49 matches in her time with the Aggies

SERIES NOTABLES
• Thursday marks the fifth all-time meeting between Sacramento State and Oregon and the first since the two clashed in Eugene in 2024 -- a 2-0 Ducks win
• Oregon is unbeaten in the last three meetings (2-0-1) with the Hornets, adding a 3-1 win in Sacramento in 2003 and a 1-1 draw in Northern California in 2021
• This will be the second neutral site meeting between the two schools with the first coming in 1996 at a tournament hosted by Pacific that ended in a 5-0 Hornet victory

SCOUTING CENTRAL ARKANSAS
• The Sugar Bears opened the season with a 1-1 record after falling to Tulsa (2-1) and defeating Louisiana Monroe (3-1) to start the year
• Central Arkansas will open the tournament against host Hawai'i before facing the Hornets on Sunday
• Junior forward Caroline Billings opened the year with a pair of goals on four shots, while seven different players have recorded a point
• Goalkeeper Anna Kathryn Harrell has allowed three goals on 42 shots faced (1.50 goals against) and made 17 saves (.850 save percentage), including nine in the loss to the Golden Hurricane
• The Sugar Bears were picked to finish fourth in the 12-team ASUN preseason coaches poll behind Lipscomb, Florida Gulf Coast, and Eastern Kentucky
• Central Arkansas finished 9-7-2 overall and 8-1-2 in the ASUN in 2024, finishing second in the regular season conference standings
• Head Coach Derek Nichols is in his first season at the helm of the UCA program

SERIES NOTABLES
• Sunday marks the first meeting with Central Arkansas in women's soccer

CONFERENCE CALL
• Thursday marks only the second match against a Big Ten program in school history after meeting Oregon last year
• Sacramento State has only faced three members of the current Big Ten alignment, with six of the seven all-time matches coming against schools during their time as members of the former Pac-12 Conference: Oregon (1-1-1), USC (0-2), and Washington (0-1)
• The Central Arkansas match marks the first-ever meeting against a current ASUN member

LOOK WHAT WE DID!
• Last week's victory over Pacific marked only the fifth-ever win over the Tigers in program history and snapped a four-match (0-3-1) winless streak in the series, winning for the first time since 2019
• It also marked the program's first win in Stockton since 2013
• The win snapped a seven-match (0-6-1) winless streak against the WCC
• It was the first win in an regular season opener since the pandemic-delayed spring of 2021 vs. Saint Mary's
• It also marked the first win in a fall season opener since 2017 vs. Saint Mary's 
• The Hornets' three goals were the most in a season opener since 2007 when they defeated Mount St. Mary's by a 4-0 score
• Last Thursday also marked the first shutout in a season opener since 2016 (2-0 vs. Cal State Bakersfield)

DOUBLE "R" CAME STRONG
• Two of the Hornets' three goals against Pacific came off the feet of newcomers to the program as transfers Micaela Romo (Saint Mary's) and Tea Reyes (Folsom Lake College) bookended the second career goal by Lexi Schroeder in the 3-0 win
• Romo scored the eventual game-winner in the 36th minute while Reyes added the final goal in the 66th minute

HELLO THERE
• In addition to Romo and Reyes making their official Hornet debuts, five other Sacramento State newcomers made their first career appearances in the green and gold
• Joining Reyes in the starting lineup were freshmen Bailey Fuller and Elyse McGinnis, while Romo came off the bench as a reserve along with fellow transfer Hope Martin-Northrup (Folsom Lake College), and freshmen Sia Bharadwaj and Aryana Martinez

IZZY DOES IT
• Junior goalkeeper Izzy Palmatier picked up where she left off last season, making four saves and recording her 12th career shutout in the win over Pacific
• The performance earned her a spot on the Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week honorable mention list
• Palmatier finished with seven clean sheets last season -- including a pair of scoreless draws over top-seeded Montana and second-seeded Idaho en route to the Big Sky Tournament title
• The seven shutouts in 2024 rank tied for fifth on the school's single-season list, while her 12 career clean sheets are now fifth on the all-time list
• With her four saves, Palmatier now has 184 for her career, ranking her sixth on the program's all-time list passing Jenny Lawrence (2005-08) and putting her 12 shy of Kimberly Mata (2010, 2012-14) and a spot in the top five
• Among returning Big Sky keepers entering the season, Palmatier leads the league in shutouts, is third in saves, and is second in saves per game, save percentage, and goals against average

HELP YOURSELF
• All three of Sacramento State's scores against Pacific were of the unassisted variety -- just one fewer than the Hornets had during the entire 2024 season

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 that 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

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 California 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