SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento State men's soccer team looks to break-up a three-match skid this weekend, heading to the Bay Area to take on long-time rival San Jose State on Sunday (Sept. 6) at 7 p.m. Sunday's contest will be streamed live on the Mountain West Network (subscription required).

THIS WEEK…
MATCH #5
WHAT: Sacramento State (1-3 overall) at San Jose State (1-2 overall)
WHEN: Sunday, Sept. 6, 2026
WHERE: San Jose, Calif.
TIME: 7 PM PT
STADIUM: Spartan Soccer Complex
WATCH: Mountain West Plus
LIVE STATS: SJSUSpartans.com

GAME NOTES: Sacramento State | San Jose State | The Big West

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

SCOUTING SAN JOSE STATE
• The Spartans enter the week with a 1-2 overall record and will host No. 1 Stanford on Friday (Sept. 4) before welcoming Sacramento State
• The Hornets will be the second opponent from The Big West for SJSU this season after having opened the year with a 3-0 loss at UC Santa Barbara
• The Spartans have also faced "traditional" Big West rival Cal Poly, falling 3-0, but the Mustangs officially compete in the Pac-12 for men's soccer in 2026
• San Jose State is coming off its first win of the season, having defeated Saint Mary's by a 4-2 score on Aug. 30
• Sophomore forward Amir Anwary leads the team in scoring with two goals and two assists for six points
• He is one of three goal scorers for the Spartans this year as junior midfielder Daniel Fregoso Bautista and junior forward Jordi Tortell Daly have found the back of the net
• Senior goalkeeper Ronin Axelson has played every minute in between the pipes this year, posting a 2.67 goals against with 14 saves

SERIES NOTABLES
• According to results dating back to 1986, Sunday marks the 48th all-time meeting between San Jose State and Sacramento State
• It is one of the longest-running rivalries in program history as the Hornets have faced the Spartans more than any other school, followed by UC Davis (40), Cal Poly (36), Saint Mary's (34), and UC Santa Barbara (28)
• San Jose State has won the last three head-to-head meetings, holding Sacramento State to just two goals while scoring eight of its own during that winning streak
• The Hornets' last win in the series came in 2022, posting a 2-1 victory at home -- the last in a run of three-straight wins for the green and gold
• Sacramento State is an even 11-11-2 against SJSU on their home field, but the Hornets haven't won in San Jose since 2021 when they posted a 3-2 win
• Sacramento State had won three straight on the road against the Spartans until 2024 when San Jose State defended its home turf with a 2-1 victory
• The two schools used to be conference rivals in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (1992-95, 2000-11), with the Spartans leading that series by an 11-8-3 count

CONFERENCE CALL
• San Jose State will be the fourth Mountain West Conference opponent in the first five matches for Sacramento State this season
• The Hornets have already faced UC Davis, Grand Canyon, and Utah Tech this season

STRANGIO STRIKES BACK
• Senior defender Nick Strangio became the fourth different Hornet to find the back of the net this season, scoring his first of the year against his old team in a 2-1 loss at Saint Mary's
• The goal was Strangio's third of his Sacramento State career after scoring twice against Grand Canyon and CSUN as a junior last season

ZAC ATTACK
• After having a hand... err, foot... in all three goals of win against UC Davis, senior forward Zac Giles tallied his team-best second assist of the year at Saint Mary's last week
• The assist for the Lincoln, Calif., native was the eighth of his career to go with three goals, putting him just three shy of the school's all-time top 10 in the category
• Giles had a goal and an assist in the opener against the Aggies -- 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
• All three of Giles' career goals have been game-winners: two against Pacific and UC San Diego in 2025 and against UC Davis this year
• Two more game-winners and Giles would move into a tie for sixth on the all-time list

AMONG THE BIG WEST'S BEST
• Giles stands tied for third in the league with 14 shot attempts and is second with seven of those on goal, averaging 3.50 per match
• Hiroshi Yang also stands tied for 10th with eight shot attempts of his own
• Giles is also tied for The Big West lead with two assists and is tied for fourth with four points

WE DON'T WANT TO BOST
• Senior goalkeeper Lucas Bost has been busy in net to start 2026, leading The Big West with 17 total saves and standing second in the conference with a .773 save percentage and 4.25 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

THIS CLOSE
• Each of the Hornets' last three matches -- and five of the team's last six matches dating back to last season -- have been decided by a single goal, with Sacramento State posting a 2-4 mark in those contests

SHOT CALLERS 
• Sacramento State put up a season-high 15 shot attempts in the loss at Saint Mary's, including a season-best seven of those on frame
• It marked the second time this season that the Hornets have attempted 10-or-more shots in a match (13 vs. UC Davis) and have put 46 percent of those 28 attempts (13) on goal
• Compare that to the other two matches this season when Sacramento State has managed only three shots on goal in 13 total attempts

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 four matches for freshman Henry 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