SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The season within a season begins this week for the Sacramento State women's soccer team as the Hornets open Big Sky Conference play with a pair of matches against the league's "Northern" schools. Sacramento State begins on the road, traveling to Greeley, Colo., to take on Northern Colorado on Thursday (Sept. 25) at 6 p.m. PT, then return home to host Northern Arizona on Sunday (Sept. 28) at 1 p.m.

MATCH #11
WHAT: Sacramento State (4-6 overall, 0-0 Big Sky) at Northern Colorado (1-6-4 overall, 0-0 Big Sky)
WHEN: Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025
WHERE: Greeley, Colo.
TIME: 6 PM PT
STADIUM: Jackson Stadium
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: HornetSports.com

MATCH #12
WHAT: Northern Arizona (3-2-4 overall, 0-0 Big Sky) at Sacramento State (4-6 overall, 0-0 Big Sky)
WHEN: Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
TIME: 1 PM PT
STADIUM: Hornet Soccer Field
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: HornetSports.com
TICKETS: HornetSports.com

WEEKLY NOTES: Sacramento State | Northern Colorado | Northern Arizona | 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

SCOUTING NORTHERN COLORADO
• The Bears enter the week with a 1-6-4 overall record and are winless in their last nine (0-5-4) dating back to a 1-0 win over Oral Roberts back on Aug. 16
• Northern Colorado lost at Air Force to kick off last week's action, 3-1, before battling Kansas City to a 2-2 draw last Sunday
• UNC is winless at home this season, going 0-2-2 at Jackson Stadium, and haven't won since a 1-0 victory over Idaho in the 2024 regular season finale
• Junior forward Lexi Tuite leads the team offensively, scoring four of the teams 10 goals on the year for eight points, attempting 22 shots and putting 13 on frame
• Graduate goalkeepers Kaya Lindberg and Maddie Smith have split time in net through 11 matches
• Lindberg leads the way with a 1.64 goals against average and 31 saves, posting a .775 save percentage and a shutout
• Smith has made 21 saves to go with a 2.00 goals against average

SERIES NOTABLES
• Sacramento State leads the all-time series with Northern Colorado, 9-7-5
• The Hornets are unbeaten in the last three meetings (1-0-2) with the Bears
• Neither school has scored more than two goals in each of the last five meetings
• The teams have battled to a draw in each of the last two meetings: a 2-2 result in Greeley, Colo., in 2023 and a 1-1 tie in Sacramento in 2024
• The Hornets' last win in the series came in 2022, posting a 1-0 victory at home
• Sacramento State hasn't won in Greeley since a 1-0 victory in 2019

SCOUTING NORTHERN ARIZONA
• The Lumberjacks enter the week with a 3-2-4 overall record and had a six-match unbeaten streak (2-0-4) snapped with a 1-0 loss to in-state rival Grand Canyon last week
• Northern Arizona hosts Montana on Thursday (Sept. 25) before traveling to Sacramento
• NAU is unbeaten in five matches on the road this season, posting a 2-0-3 record
• Junior forward Micala Boex leads the team in scoring, netting five goals and adding four assists for 14 points through nine matches
• She, along with teammate Avery Ott, have accounted for 69 of the team's 150 shot attempts, putting 34 of those on frame
• Freshman goalkeeper Reece Reichwald has started eight of the team's nine matches, posting a 0.94 goals against average and 34 saves (.829 save percentage) while facing 88 shots

SERIES NOTABLES
• Northern Arizona leads the all-time series with Sacramento State, 16-10-7
• The Lumberjacks are unbeaten in the last three meetings (1-0-2) with the Hornets
• The two schools last met in the first round of last year's Big Sky Tournament, which ended in a 2-2 draw with Sacramento State advancing, 4-3, on penalties
• Earlier in the year, the Hornets and Lumberjacks battled to a 1-1 draw in Flagstaff
• Sacramento State is 8-3-3 at home against NAU, lasting posting a 1-0 win to open the 2023 league schedule
• The Hornets are 2-1-2 in the last five matches between the two schools played in Sacramento

FOR OPENERS... BIG SKY STYLE
• Sacramento State is 12-11-6 in Big Sky Conference openers, posting a 6-3-3 mark at home and a 6-8-3 record on the road
• The Hornets opened the 2024 conference slate with a 2-0 loss at Idaho after posting a 1-0 win against Northern Arizona in 2023
• Thursday marks the seventh time that Sacramento State will open Big Sky play on the road in its last 10 conference lid-lifters
• Thursday's match marks the first time that the Hornets open conference play against Northern Colorado
• Sacramento State has faced Northern Arizona (3-4) the most in league openers, while doing so against Portland State six times (1-4-1), Eastern Washington five times (2-0-3), Weber State three times (2-0-1), Montana twice (1-1), and Idaho once (0-1)
• The Hornets have also opened league play against former members North Dakota (2-1) and Southern Utah (1-0)

MOVIN' ON UP
• Thanks to her four saves against UC Davis in the team's non-conference finale last week, junior goalkeeper Izzy Palmatier upped her career total to 223 entering the start of Big Sky play
• The total moves the Folsom, Calif., native into fourth on the school's career list, passing Aailyah Fesili (2017-21) and placing her 28 saves back of Amy Seely (2000-02) for third
• Palmatier also ranks third on the school's all-time list for shutouts with 14, putting her four back of Fesili for second
• Among the school's all-time top 10, Palmatier stands  tied for fourth in matches played (43), tied for seventh in victories (11), and fourth in minutes played (3,824)
• If the season ended today, her career 5.19 saves per game would rank fourth on the school's all-time list, while her 1.41 goals against average would be eighth
• Palmatier's 11 saves against Hawai'i on Sept. 7 -- the most by a Big Sky keeper entering the week -- matched her career high set against Cal Poly on Aug. 29, 2024, and marked the fourth time she has finished with double-digit saves in her career
• Her 107 saves last season led the Big Sky Conference and were the most by a league goalkeeper since Eastern Washington's Kelsee Winston stopped 116 in 2021
• Palmatier also became the second Hornet keeper to lead the league in saves, joining Aailyah Fesili in 2020 (62)

LEADING THE WAY
• Entering the week, Palmatier leads the Big Sky in total saves (43) and saves per match (6.14), while standing third in save percentage (.827)
• She also stands sixth with a 1.38 goals against average, is tied for second in overall shutouts (3), and is just out of the top spot in shutouts per match (0.43)
• Nationally, Palmatier is No. 16 in the NCAA in saves per game and No. 44 in total saves, while ranking No. 64 in shutouts and No. 75 in save percentage

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 the team's 10 matches -- just two shy of her total from last season when she went the distance 10 times
• Sophomore defender Jaety Mandaquit is second on the team with five "complete games," while freshman Aryana Martinez is close behind with four -- all coming in the team's last four contests

NON-CON PHENOMENON
• With the start of league play on the horizon, 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 in 2019
• That season, Sacramento State finished 11-2-6 overall and 5-0-4 in league matches

ALUMNAE NEWS
• Ali Fuamatu-Ma'afala (2022-24) was called into camp with the American Samoa Women's National Team on Sept. 9 in advance of the nation's qualifying matches for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup
• Selections will be made prior to a series of friendlies in November and the World Cup qualifying rounds in Avarua, Rarotaonga, in the Cook Islands in December
• Jennifer Lum (2012-15) recently helped her Keilor Park Soccer Club earn promotion to the National Premier League in Victoria, Australia, for 2026 after scoring 11 goals in 18 matches in 2025
• Keilor Park finished 18-2-2 for 56 points and a second-place finish in the Victorian Premier League in 2025