SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento State women's soccer team's run through the Big West Conference continues this week as a pair of future league rivals are on deck for the Hornets. The week begins with a 7 p.m. kick-off at CSUN on Thursday (Sept. 11) before Sacramento State locks horns with UC Santa Barbara on Sunday (Sept. 14) at 11 a.m.
THIS WEEK...
MATCH #8
WHAT: Sacramento State (3-4 overall) at CSUN (2-5-1 overall)
WHEN: Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025
WHERE: Northridge, Calif.
TIME: 7 PM PT
STADIUM: Matador Soccer Field
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: GoMatadors.com
MATCH #9
WHAT: Sacramento State (3-4 overall) at UC Santa Barbara (5-1-1 overall)
WHEN: Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025
WHERE: Santa Barbara, Calif.
TIME: 11 AM PT
STADIUM: Harder Stadium
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: UCSBGauchos.com
WEEKLY NOTES: Sacramento State | CSUN | UC Santa Barbara | 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 CSUN
• The Matadors enter the week with a 2-5-1 overall record after splitting a pair of matches in Oregon last week against Portland State (W, 4-0) and Portland (L, 1-0)
• The win over Portland State snapped a four-match losing streak for CSUN after it opened with a 2-2 draw against Saint Mary's and a 1-0 win over San Jose State
• Entering Thursday, the Matadors are winless at home this season, going 0-3, and are 0-4-1 in their last five at home dating back to a 3-1 victory over UC San Diego on Oct. 6 of last year
• Senior forward Cailey Jackson paces the team offensively with four goals and nine points overall, attempting 19 shots (10 on frame)
• Senior goalkeeper Riley Liebsack has played every minute in net, posting a 1.25 goals against average and making 31 saves (.756 save percentage) to go with a pair of shutouts
SERIES NOTABLES
• CSUN leads the all-time series with Sacramento State by a 7-3-1 count dating back to 1996
• The Hornets and Matadors, who will be rivals in the Big West Conference starting in 2026, were once rivals in the Big Sky Conference from 1996-00, with CSUN winning four of the six meetings
• Sacramento State won the last meeting between the two schools, 1-0, on its home field in 2024 thanks to an Abigail Lopez score in the 81st minute
• Prior to that, the Matadors were unbeaten in seven straight (6-0-1) against the Hornets
• Thursday marks the first meeting between the two schools in Northridge since CSUN posted a 2-0 victory on Aug. 29, 2004
• Sacramento State has never won on the Matadors' home field, going 0-4
• Each of the last two meetings -- and five overall -- have been decided by a single goal
SCOUTING UC SANTA BARBARA
• The Gauchos are off to a hot start in 2025, winning their last four en route to a 5-1-1 record
• UCSB hosts New Mexico on Thursday (Sept. 11) before welcoming the Hornets
• UC Santa Barbara extended its winning streak with a pair of victories in the "Peace Garden State," defeating North Dakota, 2-1, before shutting out North Dakota State, 3-0
• Thursday's match against the Lobos will be the first at home for the Gauchos since a 1-1 draw with San Diego on Aug. 24
• UCSB is 1-1-1 at home this year with a win over California Baptist and a loss to Loyola Marymount
• Junior forward Hayden Halscheid leads the offense with four goals and nine points overall, while junior forward Olivia Howard has three goals
• Junior goalkeeper Maddie Buckley has played the majority of minutes in net for UCSB in five starts, posting a 0.80 goals against average and 15 saves (.789 save percentage), while adding a pair of shutouts
• The Gauchos' defense has surrendered only four goals on the year
SERIES NOTABLES
• UC Santa Barbara leads the all-time series with Sacramento State by a 7-2-3 count
• This will be the fourth meeting between the two schools in the last five years after having played just once since 2015
• The Gauchos are unbeaten in the last six meetings with the Hornets, posting a 4-0-2 record in that span
• Sunday marks the first meeting between the two schools in Santa Barbara since 2021 when UCSB posted a 1-0 overtime win on Aug. 27
• Sacramento State is 1-3-1 against the Gauchos on the Central Coast, posting its only win back in 1995 -- the second year of the program -- by a 2-1 score
• The Hornets' last win overall in the series came in 2009 by a 1-0 score at home
• Each of the last four meetings have been decided by either a single goal or a draw
CONFERENCE CALL
• Sacramento State is a combined 27-55-15 against the current Big West women's soccer alignment
• CSUN and UC Santa Barbara mark the third and fourth matches against the Big West this season, with the team's non-conference finale against UC Davis on Sept. 18 remaining
• The Hornets are 1-1-3 in their last five against the Big West Conference
• Sacramento State has faced all but one of the Big West schools, having played everyone except UC San Diego which joined the league in 2020
THIS ONE GOES TO 11
• Even though the Hornets ended up on the short end of a 2-0 loss to Hawai'i last week, junior goalkeeper Izzy Palmatier did her part to keep her side close, stopping 11 of the 13 Rainbow Wahine shots on goal
• The 11 stops matched Palmatier's 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
LET'S GET LOUD
• The Hornets got back in the win column in a big way with their victory over San Jose State as the four goals snapped a scoreless drought of nearly 391 minutes
• The offensive outburst marked a season high for goals scored and were the most since Sacramento State put home four in a 4-1 win over Idaho State on Oct. 4 of last year
• Sunday's four goals are tied for the second-most by a team in the Big Sky entering the week, trailing only the five scored by Montana against Montana State Billings later in the day
ACCOUNT OPENED
• Junior Ellie Farber and sophomore Tierra Pickell each scored their first goals of the season in the win over San Jose State -- the first of Pickell's career and the fourth of Farber's
• The duo became the fifth and sixth Hornets to find the back of the net in 2025 -- just two shy of last year's total when they had eight players finish with goals
• Sophomore Jaety Mandaquit added her second goal of the season to put her team up 2-0 in the match and tied her with Lexi Schroeder for the team lead with four points
OWN IT
• The Hornets were the first on the board against San Jose State, thanks to a perfectly placed corner by freshman Aryana Martinez that found its way inside the six and deflected off a Spartan defender for an "own goal"
• It was the team's first own goal since the aforementioned 4-1 win over Idaho State last year
MOVIN' ON UP
• With 14 total stops last week against Hawai'i and San Jose State, Palmatier moved above the 200-save plateau for her career and now has 209, solidifying her hold on fifth place on the school's all-time list
• Palmatier now stands nine saves shy of Aailyah Fesili (218 saves from 2017-21) for fourth on the career list
• She already shares the No. 3 spot on the school's all-time chart for career shutouts with 13, reaching that mark with her clean sheet against Oregon on Aug. 21
• Entering the week, Palmatier is tied for the top spot in the Big Sky with 32 saves, leads the league with 6.4 saves per game, and is third with an .821 save percentage
• Nationally, Palmatier is No. 15 in the NCAA in saves per game and No. 39 in total saves
• 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)
POLL POSITION
• Sacramento State was picked to finish in a tie for fourth in the regular Big Sky 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
TRADING THE SKY FOR THE WEST
• The 2025 season will be the Hornets' final season in the Big Sky as all of Sacramento State's athletic teams outside of football will transition to the Big West Conference beginning in 2026-27
• The Hornets will be leaving the only conference that they have ever known, as they have 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
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 in 2018
• Wilcox and McGinnis are the first Colorado natives since Courtney Gorham finished in 2005
• Waller is the first-ever Hornet to hail from the state of Illinois
