SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento State men's soccer team officially kicks off its 2024 campaign with a pair of matches this week, opening the season at home against Utah Valley on Thursday (Aug. 22), before making the short jaunt to the Bay Area to face California on Sunday (Aug. 25).
Kick-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. against the Wolverines in Sacramento, while the Hornets and Golden Bears will start at 2 p.m. in Berkeley, Calif.
THIS WEEK…
MATCH #1
WHAT: Utah Valley (0-0, 0-0 WAC) at Sacramento State (0-0, 0-0 Big West)
WHEN: Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024
TIME: 5 p.m.
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
STADIUM: Hornet Soccer Field
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: HornetStats.com
TICKETS: HornetSports.com
MATCH #2
WHAT: Sacramento State (0-0, 0-0 Big West) at California (0-0, 0-0 ACC)
WHEN: Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024
TIME: 2 p.m.
WHERE: Berkeley, Calif.
STADIUM: Edwards Stadium
WATCH:ACC Network Extra
LIVE STATS: CalBears.com
GAME NOTES
Sacramento State | Utah Valley| California
LET'S PLAY TWO!
• Ernie Banks would be proud. Thursday's match against Utah Valley will be the second of a doubleheader with the Hornet women's team, which hosts UC Santa Barbara at 1 p.m.
• The men's and women's teams will play another twinbill on Sept. 12 as the women host CSUN at 1 p.m., and the men welcome San Francisco at 4 p.m.
WE'LL DO IT LIVE!
• Every home match during the 2024 regular season will be streamed live on the ESPN+ subscription platform, with select road contests available on various streaming platforms.
• Links to watch and for live stats for all matches will be posted, as soon as they are available, on the men's soccer schedule page at HornetSports.com.
SCOUTING UTAH VALLEY
• The Wolverines are coming off a 2023 campaign that saw them post a 3-7-7 overall record and a 2-2-4 mark in the WAC for fifth place
• Utah Valley fell to UNLV, 3-2, in overtime in the the conference tournament after finishing the year unbeaten in its last five matches (2-0-3)
• The seven draws were tied for the sixth-most in the NCAA in 2023
• Utah Valley, picked to finish seventh in the WAC, lost its top two scorers from last season, with senior midfielder Omar Yehya the leading returner after scoring four goals and an assist
• Junior goalkeeper Landon Carter is the incumbent in net after splitting time with Parker Allen, who departed after 2023
• Carter posted a 2.86 goals against average in seven starts, making only 17 saves (.459 save percentage) and two shutouts
• Defender Tom Dobek-Pietrowski was named to the preseason All-WAC roster after playing all but 77 minutes in 2023
• Overall, the Wolverines return 14 letter winners and add 17 newcomers to the 2024 roster -- including six transfers with collegiate experience
SERIES NOTABLES
• Thursday's season opener will be only the third-ever meeting between Sacramento State and Utah Valley
• The Hornets have won both of the previous meetings between the two: a 3-2 win at home in 2016 when UVU was ranked No. 15 in the nation and a 2-1 win over the Wolverines in 2017
SCOUTING CALIFORNIA
• The Golden Bears are coming off a 2023 season that saw them finish 7-6-5 overall and 3-4-3 in the final year of the Pac-12
• California opened 2023 by going unbeaten in its first five (3-0-2)
• The Golden Bears open 2024 at home on Thursday, welcoming Denver to Edwards Stadium, after falling to UC Davis (2-1) and defeating San Francisco (2-0) in exhibitions
• California lost its top two scorers off of last season's squad in Evan Davila (5 goals, 5 assists) and Juan Martinez (3 goals, 2 assists)
• Junior defender Kevin Carmichael is the leading returning scorer after scoring three times and assisting on another in 2023
• Junior goalkeeper Connor Lambe is the incumbent in net, starting 11 of the team's 18 matches in 2023 while splitting time with two other teammates
• Lambe was 4-2-5 in goal with a 1.06 goals against average and 39 saves (.780 save percentage), posting two shutouts in 938 minutes
SERIES NOTABLES
• California leads the all-time series with Sacramento State by a 13-3-2 count
• Sunday's match in Berkeley will be the first between the two programs since 2018 -- a 6-2 victory for the Golden Bears in a match played at Avaya Stadium (now PayPal Park) in San Jose, Calif.
• It is the first match between the two in Berkeley since 2006 -- a 2-0 California win
• The Golden Bears have won the last eight meetings between the two programs dating back to the 1996 season
• Sacramento State's last win in the series came on Oct. 22, 1995, in a 1-0 road triumph
• Nine of the 18 all-time meetings have been played in Berkeley -- including four of the last seven -- with California posting a 6-1-2 record in those contests
CONFERENCE CALL
• Sacramento State is 60-47-11 against the current Western Athletic Conference alignment, having faced eight of the 10 members
• The Hornets have two more matches against members of the league: San Jose State on Sept. 1 and affiliate member San Diego State (formerly of the Pac-12) on Sept. 6
• Sacramento State is 8-24-3 against the current ACC alignment, with all but two of those results coming against three of the league's newest members in California (3-13-2), Stanford (5-8-1), and SMU (0-1)
• The Hornets are also 0-1 against ACC bluebloods Duke and NC State -- having faced both in a tournament hosted by the Blue Devils in Durham, N.C., in 2010
FOR OPENERS
• Sacramento State is a combined 8-24-3 in regular season openers according to available records dating back to the 1986 season
• The Hornets have lost their last three openers -- the last two coming against nationally ranked squads in No. 3 Washington (2022) and No. 13 Portland (2023)
• Thursday's match against Utah Valley marks the first time that Sacramento State will open at home since a 2-0 loss to Pacific in 2017
• 13 of the team's last 14 season openers have been on the road with 21 of the 35 openers since 1986 coming away from home
• Sacramento State is 4-7-1 when opening the season at home
• The Hornets are 19-13-4 all-time in home openers, winning their last two against San Jose State (2022) and Utah Tech (2023)
HORNET NEWCOMER KELLY RECOGNIZED BY TOP DRAWER SOCCER
• Freshman forward Ethan Kelly was one of 11 players from across the country named to Top Drawer Soccer's preseason "Best XI" all-freshman team
• He was the only player from the West Coast to earn a spot, joining student-athletes from Georgetown, Princeton, Clemson, Wake Forest, Wisconsin, Saint Louis, Davidson, Cornell, Tulsa, and Notre Dame
• When you include the first-, second-, and third-team honorees, Kelly is one of two Big West Conference players to be recognized along with Cal State Fullerton's Roberto Ordonez, who was named to the "Best XI" third team
• Kelly competed for the Sacramento Republic FC Academy team and signed a contract to play alongside the first team in 2023 after spending time with the U17 squad, helping the club to back-to-back MLS NEXT Cup playoff appearances while making his first-team debut on April 5, 2023
AGAINST THE "POWER FOUR"
• When the Hornets take the field against California on Sunday, it will be the program's first meeting against a "Power Four" school since they opened the 2022 season at No. 3-ranked Washington
• The Golden Bears are only the fourth different "Power Four" opponent for Sacramento State in the last six seasons
• Sacramento State has lost its last eight meetings with "Power Four" schools dating back to a 1-0 win at Stanford on Sept. 12, 2010
• Aside from two wins and a draw over California, the Hornets also hold results over "Power Four" opponents Stanford (three wins, one draw) and Oregon State (three wins, two draws) as Mountain Pacific Sports Federation rivals under head coach Michael Linenberger
• In all, Sacramento State has faced 10 "Power Four" opponents: Washington, Indiana, California, Oregon State, UCLA, Stanford, Duke, NC State, Michigan State, and Illinois
• Oregon State accounts for most of those games (13), followed by 10 each against Washington and California
OH, SAY CAN YOU WCC?
• With schools around the country switching conferences on a seemingly yearly basis, Sacramento State may want to think about applying for affiliate membership in the West Coast Conference as the Hornets are scheduled to face five of the league's nine soccer-playing members on the men's side in 2024
• All five contests will come consecutively beginning with a Sept. 12 match at home against San Francisco and concluding with a trip to Portland to take on the Pilots on Sept. 27
• In between, the Hornets will face Saint Mary's (Sept. 15) and Santa Clara (Sept. 19) on the road and host Pacific (Sept. 22)
• Sacramento State has become a regular WCC opponent over the last five seasons, taking on at least five league members in that time span
THE ROAD MOST TRAVELED
• The season opener against Utah Valley is the first of seven home matches during the regular season, but the only home appearance for the Hornets until Sept. 12 when San Francisco pays a visit to the capital city
• Following the home opener against Utah Valley, six of Sacramento State's next eight non-conference matches will be played away from home
•The seven home matches are the fewest for the Hornets since the 2018 squad played the same number on its home turf
• Three of those home matches will come prior to the start of Big West Conference play — the third time in the last four seasons that Sacramento State will play so few non-conference contests at home
THE HORNETS, QUICKLY
• Sacramento State is coming off a 2023 campaign that saw the Hornets finish 4-10-4 overall and 1-4-4 in Big West Conference play
• This year's roster features 13 returning letter winners and returns five starters off of last season's squad
• By the numbers, the Hornets return only four of the team's 17 goals scored (Bryan Gutierrez, 2; Hasan Alsakati, 1; Simon Vaca-Lorenzi, 1) and two of the team's 18 assists (Alsakati & Zac Giles) from last season
HELLO, MY NAME IS...
• This year's version of the Hornets will look drastically different as Sacramento State welcomes 14 newcomers and returns a pair of redshirts in addition to its 13 returning letter winners
• It's the most newcomers on a roster for Sacramento State since the 2019 squad featured 16 new faces
RETURN OF THE MAC
• Senior goalkeeper Mac Learned comes back for his fifth season in the green and gold and is the incumbent in net for the Hornets after starting 16 matches in 2023
• Learned spent six straight weeks atop the NCAA leaderboard in total saves, finishing the year ranked No. 3 nationally with 88 saves and No. 7 in saves per game (5.50)
• The Lincoln, Calif., native also ended the year leading the Big West in overall saves, saves per game, and save percentage (.779)
ALL TIED UP
• The Hornets' four draws in 2023 were tied for the second-most in school history, trailing only the seven set during an 11-5-7 campaign in 2010
POLL POSITION
• Sacramento State was picked to finish in a tie for ninth in the 2024 race for the Big West Conference crown according to a vote of the league's head coaches released on Aug. 19
• The Hornets received 18 points to match Cal State Bakersfield for the spot in the poll
• Defending champion UC Irvine picked up four first-place votes and 75 points over to stand atop the coaches poll
• The Anteaters were followed by Cal State Fullerton (3 first-place votes, 66 overall) and UC Santa Barbara (3 first-place votes, 65 overall) to round out the top three
