SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Continuing a pattern that has seen the Hornets play a midweek road contest before spending the weekend at home, the Sacramento State men's soccer team travels to Orem, Utah, on Thursday (Sept. 4) to take on nationally ranked Utah Valley before coming home to close out a home doubleheader against San Jose State on Sunday (Sept. 7).
The Hornets and Wolverines kick-off at 4 p.m. PT at UCCU Stadium, while the weekend match with the Spartans is scheduled for approximately 3 p.m. following the Sacramento State women's match against SJSU at Noon.
THIS WEEK…
MATCH #5
WHAT: Sacramento State (0-3-1 overall) at #18 Utah Valley (4-0)
WHEN: Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025
WHERE: Orem, Utah
TIME: 4 PM PT
STADIUM: UCCU Stadium
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: GoUVU.com
MATCH #6
WHAT: San Jose State (3-0 overall) at Sacramento State (0-3-1)
WHEN: Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
TIME: 3 PM
STADIUM: Hornet Soccer Field
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: HornetSports.com
TICKETS: HornetSports.com
WEEKLY NOTES: Sacramento State | Utah Valley | San Jose State | Big West Conference
IN THE RANKINGS
• Utah Valley enters the week ranked No. 18 in the nation according to the latest United Soccer Coaches poll following its undefeated start
• The Wolverines are the second nationally ranked opponent for the Hornets in 2025 after opening the year against No. 13 Stanford (now ranked No. 1) on Aug. 21
LET'S PLAY TWO!
• For the second straight week, the Hornet men's and women's teams will play a doubleheader on Sunday as both squads host San Jose State
• Dating back to the debut of the women's program in 1994, the Sacramento State men's and women's teams have played a total of 60 doubleheaders at home, but the 61st doubleheader on Sunday marks the first time that the programs will host the same school in a twinbill
• The Hornet women have fared well in their half of those doubleheaders, posting a 31-21-8 all-time record, while the men are 25-29-6 in their half
• Sacramento State has gone winless in its last two doubleheaders, combining for an 0-3-1 mark
• The women are 4-4-2 in their last 10 doubleheaders, while the men are 3-7 in their last 10
• The Hornets have swept a doubleheader 11 times since 1994, last doing so on Aug. 31, 2023, when the men shut out Utah Tech and the women shut out UC Riverside by identical 1-0 scores
• Sacramento State played a record seven doubleheaders in 2007, with the women finishing unbeaten at 6-0-1 in those contests while the men were just 2-5
• On the men's side, Sunday marks the ninth time that Sacramento State will face San Jose State in its half of a doubleheader (4-4 in previous eight), while the women are 2-0-1 against the Spartans in three previous doubleheader meetings
SCOUTING UTAH VALLEY
• The Wolverines enter the week with an undefeated 4-0 record and has yet to concede a goal in those four contests, outscoring opponents by a 13-0 count
• Thursday marks already the fourth contest at home for Utah Valley this season, winning twice at UCCU Field and adding another win at America First Field (home of the Real Salt Lake in MLS and Utah Royals of USL) in nearby Sandy, Utah
• Utah Valley has also outshot opponents, 60-29, allowing just 7.3 shots per match
• Sophomore midfielder Isaac Emojong and freshman forward Lewis Knecht share the team lead with seven points apiece, each scoring three goals and adding an assist
• Nine players have scored goals for UVU thus far, while junior defender Keegan Oyler leads the team with four assists
• Sophomore goalkeeper Colby Sessions has been perfect in four starts, forced to make only six saves on the year against the 29 shots put his way
SERIES NOTABLES
• Thursday marks the fourth meeting between Sacramento State and Utah Valley with the Hornets holding a 2-1 lead in the series
• It marks the second straight season that the two programs will meet after the Wolverines posted a 3-1 win in Northern California last year
• Prior to that, Sacramento State posted a 3-2 win at home in 2016 and a 2-1 triumph in Utah in 2017 -- the last meeting between the two on Utah Valley's home turf
SCOUTING SAN JOSE STATE
• The Spartans enter the week with a 3-0 overall record and hosts Bay Area rival San Francisco on Thursday before heading to Sacramento
• San Jose State has opened with wins over Cal Poly (2-0), Saint Mary's (2-1), and Cal State Bakersfield (2-0), with two of those three coming on the road
• Sophomore forward Arnold Matshazi leads the team with six points on the year, accounting for half of the team's six goals while doing so on only seven shot attempts
• Three other players have also found the back of the net, while three other players are tied for the team lead with two assists apiece
• Senior goalkeeper Edgar Guerra, a former Hornet from 2022-23, has posted a 0.33 goals against average while making 11 saves on the year (.917 save percentage) in his three starts
SERIES NOTABLES
• In one of the longest running rivalries in program history, San Jose State leads the all-time series with Sacramento State, 23-20-3, according to available records dating back to 1986
• The Spartans have won the last two meetings, posting a 4-1 win in Sacramento in 2023 and a 2-1 victory last year in San Jose
• The Hornets' last win in the series came at home in 2022, posting a 2-1 victory that capped off a run of three-straight wins in the series for Sacramento State
• SJSU is 11-9-1 against the Hornets in Sacramento, winning two of the last three
• The two programs used to be conference rivals in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (1992-95, 2000-11), with the Spartans leading that series, 13-8-3
• Three of the last four meetings have been decided by a single goal and one of the schools has scored multiple goals in each of the last 10 meetings dating back to a 1-0 double-overtime win on the road for Sacramento State in 2013
• The 46 matches against San Jose State are the most for Sacramento State against any one opponent since the 1986 season
• Causeway and Big West Conference rival UC Davis ranks second with 38 matches played, followed by Cal Poly (36) in third, Saint Mary's (33) in fourth, and UC Santa Barbara (28) in fifth
CONFERENCE CALL
• Sacramento State is 62-61-15 against the current Western Athletic Conference alignment, having faced all eight of the league's programs
• Having already faced Utah Tech and Grand Canyon, this week's matches against Utah Valley and San Jose State will be the third and final matches against the league for 2025
• The Hornets are 0-5-1 in their last six meetings against WAC opponents dating back to a 3-1 win at Air Force on Sept. 3, 2023
HORNETS VERSUS THE TOP 25
• Since 1996, Sacramento State is 8-51-5 against opponents ranked in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25, having lost its last five such contests
• The Hornets' last win over a top 25 opponent came on Sept. 6, 2019, when they shutout then-No. 25 Air Force, 2-0, at home
• That preceeded a 2-1 road win over a receiving votes San Diego squad nine days later and were among a group of six opponents either ranked or receiving votes that year
• The last road win against a ranked squad was on Aug. 27, 2011, shutting out Loyola Marymount, 1-0, in overtime
• Last season, the Hornets posted a 3-1 win over a receiving votes UC Santa Barbara squad at home on Oct. 19
DOCTOR STRANGIO
• Junior transfer Nick Strangio opened his account as a Hornet last week at Grand Canyon, pouncing on a rebound off a Donovan Sessoms shot to draw his team even
• It was the Folsom, Calif., native's fourth career goal after scoring three times in his first two seasons at Saint Mary's, and he became the third Hornet to find the back of the net this year
STREAKING SESSOMS
• Thanks to the aforementioned assist against the Lopes, Sessoms ran his point-scoring streak to three straight matches to start the year
• It was the longest such streak since Cody Sundquist had a pair of goals and an assist in matches against Cal State Bakersfield, UC San Diego, and CSUN from Sept. 28-Oct. 5, 2022
BIG TIME IN THE BIG WEST
• Sessoms enters the week leading the Big West in shot attempts (11) and shots on goal (5), while standing tied with UC Santa Barbara's Thomas Noordegraaf atop the charts with two assists
• His 2.75 shots per match are third in the league while his four points are tied for second
• Goalkeeper Lucas Bost, who set and tied his career high with five saves in each of the team's matches last week, is fourth in the Big West with 13 saves and 3.25 saves per match
NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
• Prior to the team's season opener at Stanford, Sessoms picked up yet another preseason honor, named to Top Drawer Soccer's national preseason top 100 list
• Sessoms was ranked No. 63 in the nation according to the organization, standing as one of five Big West players on the list and the third-highest ranked player among that quintet
• Cal Poly goalkeeper Nick McCune (No. 10), Mustang defender Parker Owens (No. 37), UC Davis forward Cason Goodman (No. 69), and UC Santa Barbara defender Calle Mollerberg (No. 96) round out the Big West contingent
ON THE SPOT
• With Sessoms' penalty at Stanford in the season opener, the Hornets have now converted their last 11 consecutive tries from the spot dating back to a miss at San Francisco on Sept. 23, 2018
• Prior to that, Sacramento State made eight straight penalties, extending their streak to 19 of its last 20 dating back to 2015
THE HORNETS, QUICKLY
• Sacramento State is coming off a 2024 season that saw the Hornets finish 6-10-2 overall and 3-6 in the Big West Conference
• Fifteen letter winners and six starters return for the green and gold in 2025, while the roster features 12 total newcomers — six of transfers
• The Hornets return their top five scorers from a season ago led by All-Big West forward junior Donovan Sessoms, who ended the 2024 campaign with 10 goals and 20 points on 48 shots
• Big West All-Freshman Team selection Sean Battistessa brings back his five goals and an assist from his stellar collegiate debut
• In all, seven of the 10 players who found the back of the net for Sacramento State a season ago return, while junior Zac Giles brings back his team-high five assists
• There will be a new face in net for the Hornets with the departure of starter Mac Learned, as Lucas Bost is joined by transfers Andres Rosales (Cal Poly) and Brian Tufino (Taft College)
• Bost appeared in three matches in relief in 2024 (91 minutes), posting six saves without allowing a goal and adding an assist on the game-tying score in a 1-1 draw at Portland
SESSOMS EARNS PRESEASON HONORS
• Junior forward Donovan Sessoms was one of 11 student-athletes named to the preseason All-Big West Conference squad on Aug. 14
• 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 in 2023
• He joins a group that also includes former standouts Cesar Castillo (2012), Isaac Ikyurav (2013), Brad Bumgarner (2016), Paul Goyer (2017), and Oscar Govea (2021)
IRON SHARPENS IRON
• Sacramento State's 2025 schedule features three NCAA Tournament qualifiers from a season ago and six schools that finished inside the final top 100 in the end-of-season RPI rankings
• Stanford (third round), along with Big West Conference rivals UC Santa Barbara (second round) and UC Davis (first round) make up the NCAA Tournament trio
• The Cardinal leads the group among the top 100 in the RPI, finishing 2024 at No. 12
• They are followed by the Gauchos (No. 28), the Aggies (No. 54), San Francisco (No. 70), UC Irvine (No. 72), and Cal State Fullerton (No. 90) • Six more were among the top 150 in Cal State Bakersfield (No. 102), Cal Poly (No. 107), Utah Valley (No. 111), Pacific (No. 130), UC Riverside (No. 145), and San Jose State (No. 149)
• For comparison, Sacramento State ended the year ranked No. 139 in the final RPI rankings
DEAN OF COACHES
• Head Coach Michael Linenberger enters his 36th season at the helm of the Hornets' program in 2025, a position he has held since 1989
• Linenberger is the longest tenured head coach in the Big West in both overall years as a head coach and years at his current school, edging out UC Davis' Dwayne Shaffer (34 years overall and 29th with the Aggies) and UC Santa Barbara's Tim Vom Steeg (34 years overall and 27th with the Gauchos)
• Linenberger's 232 wins with the Hornets make him one of four Big West coaches to win at least 200 career matches at their current school entering the 2025 campaign, ranking third on that list behind only Vom Steeg (318) and Shaffer (258)
FORMER HORNET JOINS THE BENCH
• Former Sacramento State goalkeeper Hector "Keko" Grajeda has returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach for 2025
• The Stockton native was a member of the Hornets' roster in 2019 and 2020 following two seasons at Cosumnes River College where he was the Big 8 Conference Goalkeeper of the Year and a first-team all-league selection
• Grajeda graduated from Sacramento State as a member of the Dean's List with his degree in sociology
HORNETS AND THE PROS
• Junior forward Donovan Sessoms was selected with the first pick of the third round in last winter's MLS SuperDraft by the expansion San Diego FC
• He was the first Hornet to be taken in the draft since Chimdum Mez in the fourth round in 2015 by San Jose and the fifth to be drafted in school history along with Brandon Cavitt (1996 College Draft, Dallas Burn), Ernesto Carranza (2011 Supplemental Draft, Chivas USA), and Fernando Cabadas (2011 Supplemental Draft, New England Revolution)
• Meanwhile, Mac Learned signed with NYCFC II in MLS NEXT Pro following his standout senior campaign, having started nine matches and making 38 saves to go along with a 2.00 goals against average and a shutout in 810 minutes
WE BAND OF BROTHERS
• For the third consecutive season, the Hornets will feature a set of brothers on the roster as sophomore Sean Battistessa will be joined by his younger brother, Evan
• The duo is believed to be the fourth set of brothers to play soccer at Sacramento State in the same season, joining Blake and Brady Nunes (2007-08), Ivan and Omar Oseguera (2017-18), and Jhared and Robert Willcot (2023-24)
• They join other brother tandems who have both played for the Hornets at some point in their careers: Mark and Kevin Baena, Mike and Tim Gaither, and Oscar and Danny Goeva
