SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Saint Mary's Men's Soccer will take to the road while staying in Northern California this week, playing at Sacramento State on Thursday and at UC Davis on Sunday.
 
The Gaels are 17-12-9 all time against Sac State, including a stretch of four-straight wins against the Hornets before a 4-1 loss to them in Moraga, Calif. last season. SMC is 6-8-4 against UC Davis all time, and won last season's meeting 3-1 at home.
 
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's (3-1-2) at Sacramento State (3-3)
Thursday, September 14 at 4:00 pm
Hornet Field – Sacramento, Calif.
Watch Live | Live Stats | Tickets
 
Saint Mary's (3-1-2) at UC Davis (2-2-1)
Sunday, September 14 at 4:00 pm
Aggie Soccer Field – Davis, Calif.
Watch Live | Live Stats | Tickets
 
LAST TIME OUT
SMC went 1-0-1 last weekend, with a 3-1 win over San Jose State and playing UC Irvine to a scoreless tie in their first road match of the season.
 
Saint Mary's again peppered their opponent with shots in the win over SJSU, firing 20 total salvos with seven on target. Storm Schmidt Hollensted scored his first two goals as a Gael to provide the game winner for SMC.
 
The Gaels initially had a lead in shots through the first 40 minutes of action versus UC Irvine, but the Anteaters got four shots off in the last five minutes of the half. Keeper Jack Landreth and the Gaels defense stayed stout however, and stopped some dangerous attacks to end the half and to start the second.
 
A flurry of early second-half shots by the Anteaters from the 56th to 58th minute, started with a big save from Landreth, finished with kick save by the Washington native to clear it, and had blocks in between from Luke Lawrence, Louis Sterobo, and Timothy Stephens
 
The Anteaters would have one more set of rapid-fire shots in the 88th minute, but Landreth made back-to-back saves, punching out a left-footed shot at the top of the box, and corralling a header on the rebound from the penalty dot to preserve the shutout.
 
ABOUT SACRAMENTO STATE
Sacramento State junior Dominic Vegaalban was named the Big West Conference Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 11, becoming the first Hornet to earn the award this year and the first since Francisco Magana picked up the first of his career nearly a year ago to the day.
It took Vegaalban only 17 minutes against Pacific to become the team's leading scorer, netting three of his four goals on the year in that span to break a 2-2 tie with the Tigers and lift the Hornets to a win. Vegaalban scored in the 64th, 69th, and 81st minutes en route to the 5-2 win, netting only the seventh recorded hat trick in school history and the first since Magana's hat trick against Gonzaga in 2022.
 
Sacramento State was picked to finish tied for fifth in the Big West Conference alongside Causeway rival UC Davis according to a vote of the league's head coaches, picking up 42 points.
 
ABOUT UC DAVIS
Charles Janssen was named to the College Soccer News National Team of the Week. Against Ohio State, he was likely the man of the match after his sparkling display between the posts. His six saves were vital in the effort to maintain the lead, flashing a couple tremendous saves in the closing minutes to keep the hosts at bay. The redshirt junior also unbelievably provided an assist for the game-winning goal, launching a beautiful goal kick to spark an attack.
 
UC Davis' leading goal-scorer from a year ago, Ethan Hoard, has been named to the 2023 Big West Men's Soccer Preseason Coaches' team. The 2022 All-Big West Honorable Mention impressed in his debut season with the Aggies after transferring in from Green Bay.
 
Hoard netted three goals, a team-high, while creating two assists during the campaign. He also matched a team-best eight points while leading the team in shots (39) and shots on target (18). The Racine, Wisc. native started 16 of 18 matches last season and provided some exciting moments, including his winning goal in the 2-1 victory over Causeway rivals Sacramento State
 
CLICK HERE to purchase Saint Mary's Men's Soccer tickets for the 2023 season.
 
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