MORAGA, Calif. – Saint Mary's Women's Soccer will be back home this Thursday against Sacramento State, before going back on the road to play UC Santa Barbara on Sunday.

The Gaels are 10-4-1 all time against Sacramento State, including a 3-0 win over the Hornets in Sacramento last August 13. Saint Mary's is 8-10-1 in their history against the Gaucho, after defeating them 1-0 here in Moraga last season.
 
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's (5-2-1) vs Sacramento State (2-4-1)
Thursday, September 14 at 4:00 pm
Saint Mary's Stadium – Moraga, Calif.
Watch Live | Live Stats | Tickets
 
Saint Mary's (5-2-1) at UC Santa Barbara (2-2-4)
Sunday, September 17 at 12:00 pm
Harder Stadium – Santa Barbara, Calif.
Watch Live | Live Stats | Tickets
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
The Gaels took home two wins from being on the road against No. 15 Washington State this past Thursday night and Eastern Washington Sunday evening.
 
The Gaels shutout No. 15 Washington State to hand them their first loss of the season, and it was the first time since 2011 that SMC has won over a top-25 ranked team. In the first three minutes of the game, the Gaels showed the Cougars they were there to play. 
 
The Cougars played the ball back to the keeper as Kylie Glock was applying pressure. Briana Salvetti continued to apply pressure to the keeper, forcing her to dribble the ball away from Salvetti, causing her to fumble the ball between her legs. That allowed Salvetti to come up with the ball and hit the back of the net, giving the only goal of the game.
 
Against Eastern Washington, the Gaels raked up six goals pulling away with a 6-3 victory. The Gaels outshot the Eagles 29-16 overall and 11-7 in shots on frame. The Gaels trailed early in the game, but built up a two-goal lead at 3-1 in the 38th minute. After the half the Gaels quickly put another one in the back of the net, before the Eagles scored back-to-back goals cutting it to a one-goal game. The Gaels regained their two-goal lead four minutes later with a penalty kick by Briana Salvetti. In the 85^th minute it happened again, where Salvetti scored an almost identical penalty kick.  
 
ABOUT SACRAMENTO STATE
 
This season the Hornets are welcoming back 13 letter winners, eight starters and four redshirts for the 2023 campaign, while welcoming 14 new faces to their team, including a pair of Division I transfers.  
 
Head Coach Randy Dedini is in his 17^th season, where 12 true freshmen listed on this year's roster will be the most under his direction. This is also the most for the Hornet's program since 2002 featuring 14 Hornets entering their first year of collegiate soccer. 
 
The Hornets are entering the 2023 campaign picked to finish sixth in the Big Sky Conference, receiving 34 points to finish one back of Eastern Washington in fifth and six points ahead of Portland State and Northern Colorado.
 
Senior goalkeeper, Mia Shalit, returns for her third season leading the Big Sky in overall saves (94) and finishing second in saves per game (5.22). Shalit spent the summer of 2022 with the Peruvian Women's National Team, where she finished the year ranked eighth on the school's single-season list with her 94 stops, along with her 1,640-minutes stand seventh on the single-season chart. Nearly half of those 94 saves came in the span of four matches, where she also posted double-digit blocks against No. 21 Stanford (15), No.22 Washington (11), Northern Arizona (11), and Saint Mary's (11).
 
ABOUT UC SANTA BARBARA
 
The Gauchos were picked sixth of the 2023 preseason poll and one Gaucho made the Preseason All-Conference team. UC Santa Barbara picked up a total of 58 points in the poll and received one first-place vote. Midfielder, Lauren Helwig, was named to the 2023 Big West Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Team where she led the Gauchos in goals (7) and points (15) in the 2022 season en route to being named First Team All-Big West.
 
Student-athlete Evann Smith has been nominated for the 2023 NCAA Woman of the Year Award. Smith has been part of the Women's Soccer team from 2019-2023. In her time, she was named Big West Defensive Player of the Week twice and ranks eighth in program history in shutouts (11), ninth in saves (125), and 10^th in goals-against average (1.26).
 
CLICK HERE to purchase Saint Mary's Women's Soccer tickets for the 2023 season.
 
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