SACRAMENTO, Calif. — After opening the regular season with a pair of solid showings, the Sacramento State men's soccer team begins a run of four straight on the road this week against Saint Mary's and Utah Tech.

The Hornets and Gaels kick-off at 5 p.m. in Moraga, Calif., on Thursday (Aug. 27) before they head to St. George, Utah, for a rare Monday (Aug. 31) match at 7 p.m. PT. Thursday's match against Saint Mary's will be shown live on the ESPN+ platform, while Monday's match at Utah Tech will be on the new Mountain West Plus channel (subscription required)

THIS WEEK…
MATCH #3
WHAT: Sacramento State (1-1 overall) at Saint Mary's (0-2 overall)
WHEN: Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026
WHERE: Moraga, Calif.
TIME: 5 PM
STADIUM: Saint Mary's Stadium
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: SMCGaels.com

MATCH #4
WHAT: Sacramento State (1-1 overall) at Utah Tech (0-2 overall)
WHEN: Monday, Aug. 31, 2026
WHERE: St. George, Utah
TIME: 7 PM PT
STADIUM: Greater Zion Stadium
WATCH: Mountain West Plus
LIVE STATS: UtahTechTrailblazers.com

GAME NOTES: Sacramento State | Saint Mary's | Utah Tech | The Big West

O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAINS!
• Seniors Zac Giles and Nick Strangio have been named captains for the 2026 season

FIRST OF MANY
• Sacramento State Interim Head Coach Matt McDougall picked up the first win of his career in the season opener against UC Davis -- the program's first win in an opener since 2019
• The win also marked the Hornets' second win in the last 12 tried gainst their Causeway rivals and was the first at home since 2015

SCOUTING SAINT MARY'S
• The Gaels enter the week with an 0-2 record, having fallen on the road to Wisconsin (5-0) and Marquette (2-0) to start the year
• Saint Mary's is coming off a 2025 season that saw it finish 2-8-6 overall and 2-5-2 in West Coast Conference play to stand tied for seventh in the final league table
• The Gaels lost their top four scorers off of last season's squad and return only one player -- sophomore midfielder Cameron Kobey -- who scored a goal for the team in 2025
• Junior goalkeeper Sam Bentley, who also had two assists last season, played all but 21 minutes in net for Saint Mary's last season, posting a 1.46 goals against average and 54 saves

SERIES NOTABLES
• Saint Mary's leads the all-time series with Sacramento State, 17-9-9, according to records dating back to 1986
• The Hornets are unbeaten in the last two meetings with the Gaels, earning a 4-2 victory on the road in 2024 and a 1-1 draw at home last year
• Sacramento State is 6-8-4 all-time on the road against Saint Mary's, winning the last two trips to Moraga and going 3-3-4 in the last 10 matches on the Gaels' home pitch
• One school has scored three or more goals in four of the last six head-to-head meetings, including a stretch of three of the last four that followed a string of four straight shutouts
• The Hornets have scored four goals against the Gaels in each of their last two victories

SCOUTING UTAH TECH
• The Trailblazers are 0-2 to start the 2026 campaign, falling at Cal State Bakersfield (1-0) and at home to Pacific (3-2) to start the year
• Utah Tech is coming off a 2025 season that saw it finish 4-7-6 overall and 3-1-3 in the Western Athletic Conference before falling to Grand Canyon in the opening round of the league tournament
• Sophomore midfielders Jacob Cinelli and Zach Taylor have accounted for Utah Tech's two scores this year -- both unassisted
• Sophomore Luca Campoli and freshman Zack Jarvie have each started one match in net, with Campoli surrendering one goal and stopping four shots, while Jarvie has five saves
• Campoli started 11 matches for the Gaels last year, posting a 2.13 goals against and 37 saves
• Utah Tech lost its top three scorers from 2025 with sophomore defender Tanner Dutra and sophomore forward Mitch Williams the team's leading returning scorers after collecting two goals and an assist each last year

SERIES NOTABLES
• Monday marks only the fourth all-time meeting between Sacramento State and Utah Tech -- all coming since 2022
• The Hornets have never lost to the Trailblazers, leading the all-time series, 2-0-1
• Sacramento State posted back-to-back 1-0 victories in 2022 and 2023, while battling Utah Tech to a 1-1 draw at home last season
• Monday marks the second meeting in St. George between the two programs and the first since the inaugural meeting in 2022

GILES EARNS BIG WEST WEEKLY HONORS
• Senior forward Zac Giles was named The Big West Offensive Player of the Week on Monday (Aug 24) following the Hornets' opening week matches against UC Davis and No. 21 Grand Canyon
• The weekly honor is the first in Giles' career and the first offensive weekly honor from the league office for a Sacramento State player since Donovan Sessoms earned the award on Oct. 21, 2024
• It is only the ninth offensive player of the week award for a Hornet since they joined the conference back in 2012

A CASE OF THE MONDAY'S
• According to records dating back to 1991, the match at Utah Tech will be only the 11th played on a Monday and the first since facing then-No. 20 San Francisco on the road on Sept. 15 of last season
• Sacramento State has lost its last three Monday contests -- all coming since 2018
• The Hornets' last win on a Monday came against Valparaiso on Sept. 4, 2006 -- the last in a run of three straight wins in Monday matches
• Since 1991, Sacramento State is 3-7 on Mondays

ZAC ATTACK
• Giles had a hand in all three of Sacramento State's goals against UC Davis, drawing the foul that led to the penalty kick for the first goal, netting his first goal of the year for the 2-0 lead, and notching the primary assist on the team's third goal of the day
• It was the first multi-point match for a Sacramento State player since Donovan Sessoms (hat trick) and Simon Vaca-Lorenzi (two assists) did so on Oct. 19, 2024, in a 3-1 win against UC Santa Barbara.

WE DON'T WANT TO BOST
• Senior goalkeeper Lucas Bost did just about everything to keep UC Davis out of the net in the season opener, stopping eight of the nine shots sent on frame (and facing 21 overall) in the match to help the Hornets to a 3-1 win
• The total was a career-high for Bost, who surpassed his previous high of seven set against Cal State Fullerton on Oct. 4, 2025
• It also marked the most saves for a Hornet keeper since Andres Rosales stopped nine shots against UC Santa Barbara on Oct. 22 of last season

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
• Junior defender Zach Castrence and freshman midfielder/defender Henry Hedden recorded their first career points at the Division I level in the win over UC Davis
• Hedden had the helper on teammate Zac Giles' eventual game-winner in the 39th minute, while Castrence had one of the two assists on Sean Battistessa's first score of the year that gave the Hornets a 3-0 lead

HELLO, MY NAME IS...
• Of Sacramento State's 10 newcomers on the roster for 2026, seven of those have already seen time on the pitch including starting nods in each of the first two matches for Hedden
• Other newcomers to take the field include Mohammed Aldulami, Adrian Alvarenga, Harrison Emert, Jesus Magana, James Murillo, and Mateus Romualdo
• In addition, Damien Valeriano made his collegiate debut against UC Davis after redshirting the 2025 campaign