SACRAMENTO, Calif. — One more to go before the start of conference play for the Sacramento State men's soccer team, which hosts traditional Big West rival UC Riverside on Wednesday (Sept. 23) at 1 p.m.

The match is the second half of a doubleheader with the women's team, which opens league play against UC Irvine at 10 a.m. Both matches will be shown live on the ESPN+ platform.

THIS WEEK…
MATCH #8
WHAT: UC Riverside (3-2-2) at Sacramento State (2-5)
WHEN: Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
TIME: 1 PM PT
STADIUM: Hornet Soccer Field
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: HornetSports.com
TICKETS: HornetSports.com

GAME NOTES: Sacramento State | UC Riverside | The Big West

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

ONE AT A TIME
• This week's match marks the third straight week that will see the Hornets play only once
• Following Wednesday's contest, Sacramento State returns to the grind and opens competition in The Big West on Sept. 30 at UC Santa Barbara before hosting Cal State Bakersfield on Oct. 3
• The Hornets opened the season playing four matches in 11 days before playing their next four contests over a 17-day span

LET'S PLAY TWO!
• The Sacramento State men's and women's teams will play a pair of doubleheaders this season: the first on Sept. 23 (men vs. UC Riverside and women vs. UC Irvine) and Oct. 17 (men vs. UC Irvine and women vs. Cal State Fullerton)
• 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 61 doubleheaders at home
• The Hornet women have fared well in their half of those doubleheaders, posting a 32-21-8 all-time record, while the men are 25-30-6 in their half
• The women are 5-3-2 in their last 10 doubleheaders, while the men are 2-8 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 2-5

SCOUTING UC RIVERSIDE
• The Highlanders enter the week with a 3-2-2 overall record after having their five-match unbeaten streak (3-0-2) snapped with a 2-0 loss to UC Irvine
• Traditionally a member of The Big West, UC Riverside is an affiliate member of the Pac-12 in 2026 along with other Big West sides California Baptist, UC San Diego, and Cal Poly
• Wednesday is the fifth road contest for the Highlanders this season, who are 2-1-1 away from home
• Three players -- Diego Esquivel, Tarek Hamideh, and Wyatt Ponting -- share the team lead with two goals apiece, while teammate Adrian Jose Villafranco has a team-best three assists
• Seven different players have accounted for goals this season as UCR has outscored its opponents, 12-7
• Goalkeeper Giancarlo Sagredo has started all but one match this year, posting a 1.17 goals against average and 22 saves (.759 save percentage) while facing a total of 83 shots

SERIES NOTABLES
• Wednesday marks the 22nd all-time meeting between Sacramento State and UC Riverside, with the majority of those matches coming as Big West rivals
• The Highlanders lead the series, 10-8-3, including an 8-6 mark as conference rivals
• The two teams have alternated wins and losses against one another over the last eight matches dating back to 2017
• UCR defeated the Hornets, 3-0, in Southern California last season
• Sacramento State's last win in the series came in a 2-1 victory at home in 2024
• The Hornets are 5-4-1 against the Highlanders at home and have won the last two on their home pitch, posting a 2-1 win in 2022 along with the 2024 triumph
• UC Riverside's last win in Sacramento came in 2018 in a 2-0 victory
• The Hornets' last five wins in the series have all ended in a 2-1 victory; Meanwhile, the Highlanders' last five wins have all come via a shutout -- four of those by a final score of 2-0

CONFERENCE CALL
• Although the Pac-12 looks dramatically different than it has in recent years, an innovative collaboration between the two conferences has resulted in a number of familiar faces as members of the league in the sport of men's soccer
• Four of the league's seven members are traditional Big West schools and the Hornets have faced six of the conference's seven current members in its history
• Sacramento State is 31-58-23 against the current Pac-12 lineup, with the majority of those results (63) coming in Big West play against UC Riverside (8-10-3), UC San Diego (2-2-1), and Cal Poly (12-19-6)
• The only school that the Hornets have not faced in that seven-team lineup is conference newcomer California Baptist

BIG GAME GILES
• For the second time this season, senior forward Zac Giles was named The Big West Offensive Player of the Week following his five-point performance against Pacific on Sept. 17
• Giles finished with his first career brace and added an assist in the Hornets' 4-2 victory -- the most points in a match since Sean Battistessa and Donovan Sessoms scored hat tricks in back-to-back matches against CSUN and UC Santa Barbara in 2024
• He becomes only the third Sacramento State player to earn offensive player of the week honors twice in a career and only the second to do it in the same season, joining Sessoms on Sept. 16 and Oct. 21, 2024
• Ivan Ramirez also won two in his career: his first on Oct. 19, 2015 and a second on Sept. 26, 2016

GILES INTO THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
• In addition to his honor from The Big West, Giles was one of 11 players named to the Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week on Sept. 22
• He is the first Hornet to be so honored since Sessoms was named to the team and Sean Battistessa was an honorable mention pick following their aforementioned 2024 hat trick heroics

NINE TIMES? NINE TIMES...
• Because nine shots in a match weren't enough, Giles went out and did it again in the Hornets' win over Pacific, unleashing nine attempts and putting eight on frame against the Tigers
• The totals marked a new career high for the Lincoln, Calif., native, surpassing his previous best of seven against Saint Mary's earlier this season
• His nine attempts were also the most by a Hornet player in a single match since Isaac Flores took 12 shots (seven on frame) in a victory over Jessup University in 2011

THE YIN TO OUR YANG
• Junior Hiroshi Yang celebrated his birthday in a rather spectacular way in the win over Pacific, logging two assists on the Hornets' first two goals of the match
• They were Yang's first points since he scored in the season-opener against UC Davis and were his first assists since he had a helper at CSUN in a 2-2 draw on Oct. 8, 2025
• Yang is the first Hornet with two assists in a match since Simon Vaca-Lorenzi had a pair against UC Santa Barbara on Oct. 19, 2024

FOUR!
• The four goals scored against Pacific marked a new season high for Sacramento State, surpassing the three scored in a season-opening win over UC Davis
• They were also the most by the program since the Hornets put five past the CSUN defense in a win on Oct. 16, 2024

A QUICK 18
• Continuing the golf theme, the Hornets' four goals against the Tigers came on a season-high 18 shot attempts -- including 13 of which were put on frame in the victory (72.7 percent)
• The 18 shots were the most by a Sacramento State offense since the Hornets had 18 against Saint Mary's on Sept. 15, 2024, while the 13 shots on goal were the most in nearly a decade since they put 13 on frame against UC Riverside on Nov. 5, 2016, in the first round of the Big West Tournament
• It was the highest percentage of shots on goal in a single match (minimum 10 shot attempts) since Sacramento State put nine of its 11 shots on goal (.818) at UNLV on Sept. 18, 2022

MAGAÑA ON THE BOARD
• Sophomore Jesus Magaña became the fifth different Hornet to find the back of the net in the win over Pacific, netting his first Division I goal to break a scoreless draw midway through the first half
• It was the newcomer's second collegiate goal after he found the back of the net against St. Martin's University while at Western Oregon in 2025

NOTABLES
• Junior Sean Battistessa moved into a tie for the team lead with his third goal of the season -- and first career game-winner -- against Pacific
• The score was his ninth career goal as a Hornet -- the most of any active Sacramento State player entering this week's contest
• Giles has posted at least one point in four of the team's first seven matches
• His assist against the Tigers was his fourth of the season and the 10th of his career, putting him one helper shy of a spot in the school's all-time top 10
• Sophomores Evan Battistessa and Ronan Rattigan collected their first collegiate points with assists on Giles' second goal of the day against Pacific

AMONG THE BIG WEST'S BEST
• Giles enters the week leading The Big West in shots (33), shots on goal (17), and total points (10) while sharing the top spot in assists and standing tied for fourth in the league in goals scored.
• Battistessa's three goals are tied for fourth in the league along with Giles, while also standing tied for eighth with seven shots on goal and tied for ninth with six points
• Yang's two assists propelled him into a tie for eighth in the league

WE DON'T WANT TO BOST
• Senior goalkeeper Lucas Bost has been busy in net to start 2026, entering the week leading The Big West with 26 total saves -- one of only five keepers in the league in double digits in that category -- and leading the conference lead with 3.71 saves per match
• In the season opener, the Rocklin, Calif., native stopped eight of the nine shots sent his way by UC Davis to preserve a 3-1 victory, facing 21 shots overall in the match en route to his first win in net as a Hornet
• That 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