SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento State women's soccer team still has something play for as the regular season enters its final week, hosting California Baptist and traveling to Cal Poly with a Big West Championship berth within reach.

The Hornets host the Lancers on Wednesday (Oct. 28) at 3 p.m. in their final home match of the year before hitting the road to take on the Mustangs on Saturday (Oct. 31) at 1 p.m. Both matches will be streamed live on the ESPN+ platform.

THIS WEEK…
MATCH #18
WHAT: California Baptist (8-3-4, 3-3-3 Big West) at Sacramento State (6-6-5, 2-4-3 Big West)
WHEN: Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
TIME: 3 PM PT
STADIUM: Hornet Soccer Field
WATCH: ESPN+ (https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/7fe9d7cf-02ed-4ef3-bf39-035941a7d463)
LIVE STATS: HornetSports.com (http://statb.us/b/664223)
TICKETS: HornetSports.com (https://hornettickets.evenue.net/events/WSOC)

MATCH #19
WHAT: Sacramento State (6-6-5, 2-4-3 Big West) at Cal Poly (6-6-5, 3-3-3 Big West)
WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026
WHERE: San Luis Obispo, Calif.
TIME: 1 PM PT
STADIUM: Mustang Memorial Field at Spanos Stadium
WATCH: ESPN+ (https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/0b8335a1-301b-4fd7-af5f-ed83ff2e26f0)
LIVE STATS: GoPoly.com (https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=664203)

GAME NOTES: Sacramento State | California Baptist | Cal Poly | The Big West

O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAINS!
• Seniors Ellie Farber and Lexi Schroeder have been named team captains for the 2026 season
• Farber is now a three-time team captain after earning the honor for the first time in 2024
• This is Schroeder's first year as a captain

BIG WEST, BIG PICTURE
• Sacramento State enters the final two matches of the regular season at 2-4-3 overall in league play for nine points, standing three points behind a five-way tie for fourth at 12 points
• The Hornets need wins in each of their last two matches to keep their postseason hopes alive, then get some help from the teams above them to clinch a berth
• Only Utah Valley (7-0-2) and Cal State Fullerton (6-1-2) have clinched postseason tournament berths, with UC San Diego (5-1-3) close behind in third place
• California Baptist, Long Beach State, UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly, and CSUN are all tied at 12 points

SCOUTING CALIFORNIA BAPTIST
• California Baptist enters the week with an 8-3-4 overall record and a 3-3-3 mark in Big West play
• The Lancers are unbeaten in their last three (2-0-1), drawing with CSUN followed by wins over UC Irvine (4-0) and Cal State Bakersfield (2-1)
• CBU is the stingiest team in the Big West, having allowed only five goals all year with 11 shutouts -- the latter tied for the most in the nation along with Liberty, Saint Mary's, and Auburn
• Wednesday marks only the sixth road match of the year for the Lancers, who are 1-2-2 away from home while posting a 7-1-2 mark on their own pitch
• California Baptist is led by a trio of players -- Anja Jestrovic, Tyra King, and Maya Yoshimura -- with three goals apiece
• Jestrovic leads the team with six assists and 12 points overall to go with 20 shots
• Graduate goalkeeper Mikayla O'Brien has seen the majority of minutes in net, posting a 0.43 goals against average and 52 saves (.912 save percentage) to go with six solo shutouts

SERIES NOTABLES
• Wednesday marks the fourth all-time meeting between Sacramento State and California Baptist in women's soccer
• The Lancers are unbeaten in the three previous head-to-head meetings with the Hornets, posting a 2-0 home win in 2022 in between draws in 2019 (2-2) and 2023 (1-1)
• Both of the draws in the series have come at Hornet Soccer Field as this will be the third time the two schools will face one another in Sacramento in the four all-time meetings

SCOUTING CAL POLY
• The Mustangs enter the week with a 6-6-5 overall record and a 3-3-3 mark in Big West play, traveling to UC Riverside on Wednesday before hosting Sacramento State
• Cal Poly, the reigning conference tournament champion, split its two home matches last week, defeating rival UC Santa Barbara (2-0) and falling at UC Irvine (1-0) to close the week
• At home this year, Cal Poly is 4-3-2 while posting a 2-3-3 mark away from its own field
• Junior Miah Thomas leads the Mustangs in both goals (six) and points (13), while putting 12 of her 18 total shot attempts on frame
• Junior goalkeeper Shannon Porubski has played all but 45 minutes in net this year, posting a 0.85 goals against and 36 saves (.720 save percentage) to go along with five shutouts

SERIES NOTABLES
• Saturday marks the 12th all-time meeting between Sacramento State and Cal Poly, but the first since the 2024 campaign
• The Mustangs lead the series, 8-2-1, having gone unbeaten in the last three with wins in 2021 and 2022 and a scoreless draw in 2024
• The Hornets' last win in the series came at home in 2019, posting a 3-1 victory, while Sacramento State's only other win was a 2-1 double-overtime triumph at home in 2006
• Cal Poly has won all five meetings between the two programs in San Luis Obispo -- the last in 2021 by a score of 4-2
• The two goals by the Hornets in that match were the first two scores by Sacramento State in San Luis Obispo in the history of the series

THAT'S FRESH
• Freshman forward Marely Velazquez Varela continues to build on her first-year resume, netting the Hornets' lone goal in a battle with league-leading Utah Valley last week
• The score was her third of the season, giving her seven points -- which are tied for fourth on the team -- when you add an assist against Southern Utah
• Her seven points are the most for a Hornet true freshman since Abigail Lopez finished with four goals and two assists for 10 points in 2021

SQUAD GOALS
• Powered by eight different goal scorers this season, Sacramento State's 22 goals have already surpassed last year's total (16) with two regular season matches remaining and are the most since the 2019 squad scored 28 times
• The team's 60 points are also 14 more than last year's total and are the most since the 2019 squad finished with 79 points

NOT IF, BUT "WIN"
• Sacramento State's victory over CSUN last week gave the Hornets their sixth victory of the 2026 campaign, matching last year's win total when they finished 6-11-1 overall
• A result (meaning a win or draw) in both of their final regular season matches would give Sacramento State its first non-losing season since 2019 when they finished 11-2-6 overall
• A seventh victory in either of its final two contests would give the Hornets their highest win total in a single season since that same 2019 campaign

NO QUIT IN MANDAQUIT
• Junior Jaety Mandaquit used her head last Saturday against CSUN... quite literally
• Her header in the 43rd minute off a cross by Lexi Schroeder proved to be the game-winner as the Hornets downed the Matadors, 1-0
• After her second-half score, she then turned her attention to the defensive end, helping Sacramento State hold CSUN to without a shot on goal -- and only four shots overall -- in the entire second half
• The score was her third of the year to set a new single-season career high and the fifth of her career overall
• Mandaquit also leads the team with 30 shot attempts on the year (11 on frame)

SENIOR DAY SCHROEDER
• Schroeder couldn't have had a much-better "Senior Day" in the win over CSUN, logging the assist on Mandaquit's game-winner in a 1-0 victory.
• The helper was the seventh of her career to go along with six career goals for 19 points, while her eight points this season matched her single-season career high set in 2025 when she scored three goals and assisted on two more
• Schroeder's four assists this season are tops on the team and the most by a Sacramento State player since Julie Herrera finished with four during her senior year in 2021

JUUUUUST A BIT OUTSIDE
• Sacramento State limited CSUN to just four shots on goal for the match -- all in the first half -- last Saturday, marking the third-fewest allowed this year behind the two allowed to Southern Utah (Aug. 27) and Cal State Bakersfield (Oct. 10) and the ninth time that an opponent has been held to five or fewer in a match this year
• It was also the fourth time that the Hornets have not allowed a shot on goal in a half this season, but the first time it has happened in the second half after holding Pacific, Southern Utah, and Cal State Bakersfield to without one in the first half in each of those matches

KEEPING THE SHEETS CLEAN
• Sacramento State's 1-0 victory over CSUN was the team's third shutout of the season, joining a 1-0 win on the road over UC Davis (Aug. 16) and a 2-0 clean sheet at home against Cal State Bakersfield (Oct. 10)
• Sophomore goalkeeper Delaney Timmons posted her team-best second shutout of the season with the win over the Matadors, making four first-half stops
• Junior Hayley Hartsburg has the other shutout against the Roadrunners, making just two saves in that contest

FARBER FOREVER
• It's been a while since fans have NOT seen senior Ellie Farber on the field for the Hornets as the Redding, Calif., native has been a mainstay in the Hornet lineup since arriving on campus for the 2023 season
• Farber has appeared in 73 of a possible 74 matches for Sacramento State -- missing only one contest in 2025 -- while earning a spot in the "Starting XI" in 72 of those 74
• The 73 matches played are just four shy of a spot in the all-time top 10, while Farber's 72 starts rank her in a tie for fifth along with Paula Guarda (1994-97) and Katie McCoy (2004-07)
• All told, entering this week's regular season finales, Farber has played 5,875 of a possible 6,720 minutes in the field for the Hornets -- a whopping 87.4 percent of the minutes 

FIRST THINGS FIRST
• Early leads are nothing new for the Sacramento State women's soccer team which, after Jaety Mandaquit's eventual first-half game-winner against CSUN last week, has now scored first in 10 of the team's 16 matches
• Eight different Hornets have accounted for those nine first goals with only co-captain Ellie Farber (UC Davis and UC Irvine) and, now, Mandaquit (San Francisco and CSUN), twice getting her team on the scoreboard first
• Lexi Schroeder (Pacific), Tierra Pickell (Nevada), Candace Ching (Saint Mary's), and Jules Colchico (Cal State Bakersfield) have accounted for the other scores
• The team's 10 "first goals" are fifth in the league behind leader Long Beach State (13)

ALL TIED UP
• With its draws against UC Riverside (Sept. 30) and Long Beach State (Oct. 3), Sacramento State posted its fourth and fifth draws of the 2026 campaign
• The five regular season draws are the most since the 2024 NCAA Tournament team had six draws during the regular season, then added three more en route to setting the school record with nine
• Of those five draws, three have come during Big West play -- the most during conference play since the 2023 and 2024 seasons had three each
• The school record for conference draws is four set in 2017 (3-3-4) and matched in 2019 (5-0-4)

HORNET HONOR ROLL
• Mia Jackson was named the season's first offensive player of the week on Aug. 17 following her brace in her Hornet debut against Pacific
• Candace Ching earned offensive player of the week laurels on Aug. 31 after her two goals three minutes apart lifted the Hornets to a 2-1 come-from-behind win over Southern Utah
• Jules Colchico became the third Hornet honored this year, picking up rookie of the week honors on Oct. 12 following her game-winning goal against Cal State Bakersfield

SAVE TONIGHT
• Sacramento State's 16 saves (15 by the goalkeepers and one team save via a defender) against UC San Diego on Oct. 14 are tied for the most by a team in a single match in The Big West this year, along with the Tritons' 16 stops against Utah Valley on Sept. 26
• The 16 saves are tied for the third-highest single-match total in Division I this year, trailing only the 19 stops by Mount St. Mary's against Fairfield on Sept. 26 and Texas State's 18 against San Diego State on Oct. 4
• Overall, the Hornets' 89 saves rank third in The Big West this season behind only Cal State Bakersfield (124) and CSUN (106)

AMONG THE BEST IN THE BIG WEST
• Candace Ching stands among the top 10 in the league in goals (t7th) and points (t7th) 
• Farber's two game-winning goals are tied for fifth in the league
• Sacramento State's five goals against Pacific (Aug. 13) are tied for the fourth-most in a match among Big West schools this year
• Mia Jackson's four points against Pacific and Ching's four against Southern Utah (Aug. 27) are tied for sixth on the league's single-match list
• Jaety Mandaquit's six shots against UC Irvine (Sept. 23) are the most by a Hornet in a match this year and rank tied for seventh among Big West players
• The two goals by Jackson and Ching in those matches are tied for second in the league behind only Long Beach State's Cherrie Cox's hat trick against Fresno State
• Hayley Hartsburg's 10 saves at UC San Diego are tied for sixth in the Big West in a single match, while sophomore Alexa Malaspina's eight saves against Saint Mary's (Sept. 10) are tied for 13th on the league's single-match list