SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Winners of back-to-back matches for the first time since 2024, the Sacramento State men's soccer team rolls into its Big West openers this week, facing UC Santa Barbara on the road and hosting Cal State Bakersfield.

The Hornets and Gauchos kick off on Wednesday (Sept. 30) at 7 p.m., while the match against the Roadrunners begins at 4 p.m. on Saturday (Oct. 3). Both matches will be streamed live on ESPN+

THIS WEEK…
MATCH #9
WHAT: Sacramento State (3-5, 0-0 Big West) at UC Santa Barbara (4-3-2, 0-0 BIg West)
WHEN: Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026
WHERE: Santa Barbara, Calif.
TIME: 7 PM PT
STADIUM: Harder Stadium
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: UCSBGauchos.com

MATCH #10
WHAT: Cal State Bakersfield (3-2-2, 0-0 Big West) at Sacramento State (3-5, 0-0 Big West)
WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
TIME: 4 PM PT
STADIUM: Hornet Soccer Field
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: HornetSports.com
TICKETS: HornetSports.com

GAME NOTES: Sacramento State | UC Santa Barbara | Cal State Bakersfield | The Big West

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

SCOUTING UC SANTA BARBARA
• The Gauchos enter the week with a 4-3-2 overall record, but have lost their last two to Oregon State (3-1) and Cal Poly (2-1)
• UC Santa Barbara is 2-1-2 overall at home this year, with the loss to the Beavers standing as its only defeat following an unbeaten start
• Sophomore midfielder Steinar Bjornsson leads the team with four goals and 10 points overall, while seven different Gauchos have found the back of the net
• Junior defender Peleg Brown leads the team with four assists and is tied for the conference lead with Sacramento State's Zac Giles
• Sophomore goalkeeper Owen Beninga has played every minute in net, posting a 1.11 goals against average and 26 saves (.722 save percentage)

SERIES NOTABLES
• UC Santa Barbara leads the all-time series with Sacramento State, 19-6-4
• The Gauchos hold a commanding 12-1-3 record at home against the Hornets in the series, winning the last four and going unbeaten in the last 15 (12-0-3) there
• According to available records, Sacramento State's only win in Santa Barbara came in the first-ever meeting between the two schools in 1992 by a 2-0 score
• The Hornets' last win in the series came via a 3-1 victory on Oct. 19, 2024, at home
• UCSB is 13-3-3 in Big West matches against Sacramento State dating back to 2012
• Seven of the last eight meetings between the two programs have ended in a shutout for one team or the other dating back to 2017

SCOUTING CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD
• The Roadrunners enter the week with a 3-2-2 overall record and will travel to CSUN to start conference play on Wednesday before heading to Sacramento
• Bakersfield has won its last two matches, edging both Cal Poly (3-2) and San Francisco (2-1)
• The 'Runners are unbeaten on the road entering the week, posting a 1-0-2 mark away from home
• Senior forward Oshea Foster leads the team with four goals and eight points overall, standing as one of six players to find the back of the net this year
• Grad Zenden Hart and junior Diego Ramirez have split time in net, with Hart posting a team-low 0.86 goals against average and nine saves (.750 save percentage)

SERIES NOTABLES
• Cal State Bakersfield leads the all-time series with Sacramento State, 13-7-4
• The Roadrunners are unbeaten in the last three meetings (2-0-1) with the Hornets dating back to a 1-0 Sacramento State win in Bakersfield in 2022
• CSUB has outscored the Hornets, 5-1, during its three-match unbeaten run
• Sacramento State is 4-6-3 at home against the Roadrunners, but Bakersfield is 6-0-2 in the last eight meetings in Sacramento dating back to a 2-1 Hornet overtime win in 2010 that clinched the MPSF Tournament title for Sacramento State on its home field
• The Hornets and Roadrunners were MPSF rivals from 2009-11 before Sacramento State left for the Big West
• Saturday marks only the sixth all-time meeting between the two schools as Big West rivals after Cal State Bakersfield officially joined the league in 2021
• The Roadrunners are 3-1-1 in those five previous Big West meetings

LID LIFTERS... CONFERENCE STYLE
• Since joining The Big West in 2012, Sacramento State is a combined 5-6-2 in league openers
• The Hornets are winless in their last three (0-2-1) league openers, last posting a win over Cal State Bakersfield in 2022 by a 1-0 score on the road
• Sacramento State's last four conference openers have all come against Cal State Bakersfield
• The last league opener to not pit the Hornets and Roadrunners against one another was in 2021 when Sacramento State and Cal Poly battled to a 1-1 draw
• The Hornets are 3-3 in Big West openers on the road, last falling at Cal State Bakersfield in 2024
• Sacramento State's last Big West-opening win on the road came in 2022 at Bakersfield with a 1-0 victory
• The Hornets have opened Big West play against UC Santa Barbara twice: posting a 1-0 win at home in 2018 and falling, 2-0, on the road in 2019

YANG, ALVARENGA HONORED BY BIG WEST
• Junior Hiroshi Yang was named the Big West Offensive Player of the Week, while freshman Adrian Alvarenga was named the league's Rookie of the Week on Monday
• Both awards were the first in those player's respective careers and marked the first time that the Hornets had two players honored in the same week since Oct. 21, 2024, when Donovan Sessoms (offensive) and Angad Singh (freshman) were honored
• Yang, who finished with a brace in the win over UC Riverside, made it three offensive player of the week honors for the Hornets in the same year for the first time since they joined the league in 2012
• Alvarenga, meanwhile, played 80 minutes as a reserve on the back line for the Hornets, helping the defense limit UC Riverside to just eight shots overall and only two shots on goal (more on that later...)

YANG INTO THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
• In addition to his Big West weekly honors, Yang was also one of 11 players nationwide named to Top Drawer Soccer's National Team of the Week on Sept. 29
• It is the second straight week that the Hornets have been highlighted after Zac Giles' five-point performance against Pacific earned him a spot on Sept. 22

THE YIN TO OUR YANG
• Just a week after posting a pair of assists in a 4-2 win over Pacific on his birthday, junior Hiroshi Yang had himself a highlight reel of a day in a 3-1 victory over UC Riverside to close non-conference play
• Yang collected his first career brace staking the Hornets to a 2-0 first-half lead, including a wonder strike in the 28th minute that was selected No. 9 on the SportsCenter Top 10 plays of the day
• He added his second 11 minutes later, moving him into a tie for second on the team with three goals

STAY HOT, ZAC GILES
• With his finishing goal in the win over UC Riverside, two-time Big West Offensive Player of the Week Zac Giles added another chapter to a storybook senior year
• Giles assumed the team lead with his fourth goal of the year and 12 points, attempting seven shots against the Highlanders following back-to-back nine-shot performances against San Diego State and Pacific
• The Lincoln, Calif., native now has points in five of the team's eight matches and has attempted 25 of his league-high 40 shots in the last three matches
• His assist against Pacific 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
• With 12 points on the year, Giles is the 24th Hornet to post double-digit points since the Hornets' joined the Big West in 2012

GETTING GREEDY
• Sacramento State has scored multiple goals in each of its last 10 victories following the win over UC Riverside
• The Hornets' last win with only one goal scored came in a 1-0 triumph over San Francisco on Sept. 12, 2024
• Coupled with its 4-2 win over Pacific, Sacramento State scored three-or-more goals in back-to-back matches for the first time since defeating CSUN (5-0) and UC Santa Barbara (3-1) in 2024
• Only halfway through the season, the Hornets' 12 goals in 2026 are just one shy of last year's total

OFF TARGET
• While the offense was busy racking up goals, the Hornets' defense was doing its best stopping the Highlanders from doing the same at the other end
• Sacramento State limited UC Riverside to just two shots on goal (eight total) -- the fewest allowed by the Hornets this year and the fewest since CSUN had only one on Oct. 16, 2024
• The eight total shots allowed were also the fewest by an opponent this year and the fewest in a match since UC Davis was limited to the same number of attempts on Oct. 29, 2022

"PAC"-ING IT IN
• Although UC Riverside is in the Big West for nearly all of their other sports, the Highlanders are an affiliate member of the Pac-12 in men's soccer
• Last Wednesday's win marked the Hornets' first victory over a Pac-12 opponent since they defeated Stanford on the road by a 1-0 score on Sept. 12, 2010

HORNET HONOR ROLL
• Senior Zac Giles has been named the Big West Conference Offensive Player of the Week twice this season on Aug. 24 following the Hornets' opening week matches against UC Davis and No. 21 Grand Canyon and, again, on Sept. 21 following his five-point match against Pacific
• Giles is 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 Donovan 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 was also named to the Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week on Sept. 22 -- the first 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

AMONG THE BIG WEST'S BEST
• Giles enters the week leading The Big West in shots (40), shots per match (5.00), and shots on goal (20), while sharing the top spot in assists (4) and points (12) and standing tied for second in the league in goals scored (4)
• Battistessa's three goals are tied for fifth in the league along with Yang, while also standing tied for ninth with seven shots on goal and tied for eighth with six points
• Yang is tied for fourth in points (8), eighth in shots (17), tied for fifth in goals (3), tied for seventh in shots on goal (8), and tied for ninth in assists (2)

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 27 total saves -- one of only five keepers in the league in double digits in that category -- and leading the conference lead with 3.38 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
• 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