SACRAMENTO, Calif. — For the second time this season, Sacramento State men's soccer senior forward Zac Giles was named the offensive player of the week in The Big West on Monday afternoon following a standout performance in the Hornets' win over Pacific.

Giles, who picked up his first career weekly conference honor back on Aug. 24, becomes only the third Sacramento State men's soccer student-athlete to earn offensive weekly honors from The Big West in a career and only the second to do so in the same season, joining his former teammate Donovan Sessoms, who picked up the award on Sept. 16 and Oct. 21, 2024.

Ivan Ramirez also won a pair of Big West Offensive Player of the Week honors in his career, picking up his first on Oct. 19, 2015 and a second on Sept. 26, 2016.

In Sacramento State's 4-2 win over Pacific in its only match last week, Giles finished with his first career brace and added an assist as part of a five-point day, helping his squad finish with a season-high goal total and the most since the Hornets scored five times against CSUN in 2024.

For the second consecutive match, Giles finished with a career-high nine shot attempts, putting eight of those shots on goal.

The Lincoln, Calif., native scored his first goal of the match in the 47th minute and added an assist on teammate Sean Battistessa's eventual game-winner in the 57th minute. 

After Pacific had clawed its way back to within a score, Giles added the dagger in the 77th minute, converting a pass from Evan Battistessa and a flick by Ronan Rattigan for his second goal and the match's final tally.

With the performance, Giles moved into the team lead with three goals and four assists for 10 points, while the four helpers this year are the most by a Hornet since he himself had five in 2024. His five points were the most in a single match since Sean Battistessa had a hat trick against CSUN and Sessoms duplicated the effort against UC Santa Barbara three days apart in 2024.

Sacramento State closes out non-conference play on Wednesday (Sept. 23) at home against UC Riverside — normally a member of The Big West, but is an affiliate member of the Pac-12 for men's soccer. The match is scheduled for a 1 p.m. kick-off at Hornet Soccer Field.