WOMEN'S SOCCER PLAYS PIVOTAL PAIR OF BIG SKY CONTESTS

10/24/2007

Game #16: Sacramento State Hornets at Northern Colorado Bears
Friday, Oct. 26, Jackson Soccer Stadium, 6 p.m. PT

Game #17: Sacramento State Hornets vs. Northern Arizona Lumberjacks
Sunday, Oct. 28, Hornet Soccer Field, 12 p.m.

AT A GLANCE
    With the Big Sky Conference season coming to a close, Sacramento State will look to lock in a berth into the Big Sky Tournament in its final full weekend of regular season action. Sitting in first place, the Hornets control their own destiny in both finishing in the top four teams and make the tournament, as well as winning the conference regular season and hosting the tournament. Northern Colorado, who was leading the Big Sky after the first week of conference play, had a tough second week of play, falling to Weber State 1-0 before posting a 0-0 tie against Idaho State.Teresa Prais leads the Bears with four goals on the season, while leading the conference in shots attempted with 50. ‘Keeper Heidi Owen ranks fifth in the Big Sky in goals against average, allowing 1.22 per contest. As a team, the Bears rank fifth in the conference in scoring, averaging 1.13 goals per game, while ranking seventh in goals against average, giving up 1.75 per game. Northern Arizona also had  a scoreless week of conference play, posting a 0-0 tie against Idaho State, before falling to Weber State 2-0. The Lumberjacks boast the conference’s best keeper in Liz Winkelblech, who ranks 11th nationally in save percentage (0.883) and 29th in goals against average (0.637). Offensively, Sarah Vallen leads NAU with four goals on the season, while Carolyn Savage has collected three. The Hornets and Bears’ meeting last season was the first ever between the two schools, and ended in a 2-1 Sacramento State victory in overtime, following a game-winning goal by Kayelyn Satkowski. Northern Arizona leads the all-time series with the Hornets, 6-4, including a 1-0 victory last season.

HORNETS IN THE NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS
    Sacramento State’s scoring offense is currently ranked 32nd in the nation as of Oct. 21, averaging 2.23 goals per game.
    Sacramento State also ranks in the top 100 nationally in shutout percentage (55th, 0.467), save percentage (58th, 0.833), win-loss-tie percentage (64th, 0.667), goals against average (69th, 0.863).
    Individually, senior Katie McCoy ranks 30th in points per game (1.67), 41st in assists per game (0.47), and 53rd in goals per game (0.60). Sophomore Mandy Trojan ranks 44th nationally in save percentage (0.842) and 64th in goals against average (0.827), while fellow sophomore Kim Kemper ranks 77th in assists per game (0.40).

KATIE MCCOY NAMED BIG SKY OFFENSIVE POTW
    Sacramento State senior Katie McCoy was named Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 15-21.
    McCoy scored the first two goals in the Hornets 4-0 road triumph over Eastern Washington on Sunday, which was their first victory of the season away from Hornet Soccer Field.
    The occasion marks the fourth time she has been named Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Week during her career, and the second time she has earned the honor this season.

McCOY CONTINUES CLIMB UP CAREER CHARTS
    Following her two-goal performance against Eastern Washington, senior Katie McCoy now sits in third place on the all-time charts with 20 goals, passing Jessica Mackiewicz (1998-99).
    McCoy is already the all-time leader in Sacramento State history with 22 assists, and sits alone in second place in school history with 66 points. Her seven assists in 2007 tie her own single-season program mark she set back in 2006. Her nine goals on the season put her into a three-way tie for the fifth best single season output in program history, and her 25 points on the season tie Lisa Wrightsman for the fourth best season all-time.

HORNET DEFENSE AND TROJAN TOUGH TO TOP
    So far this season, the Hornet defense and sophomore ‘keeper Mandy Trojan have held opponents to an average of 0.827 goals per game, while holding seven teams scoreless. Trojan has posted six of those shutouts, and is the only ‘keeper in Sacramento State history to boast a goals against average of below a goal a game (0.90).

FRIENDLY CONFINES OF HORNET SOCCER FIELD
    The Hornets are unbeaten at 7-0-1 in matches contested at Hornet Soccer Field this season. Sacramento State has outscored its opponents 23-3 in its eight home games in 2007, and has not trailed while defending its home pitch. Going back to last season, the Hornets are unbeaten in their last 12 matches at home, posting an impressive 10-0-2 mark that dates back to Oct. 13, 2006. In the last three seasons, the Hornets are 18-4-4 (.769) at Hornet Soccer Field.

HORNETS GET FIRST ROAD WIN, 4-0, OVER EWU
    Behind two goals from senior Katie McCoy, Sacramento State recorded its first road victory of the season, defeating Eastern Washington, 4-0, on Sunday, Oct. 21.   
    Sacramento State lit up the scoreboard in the 18th minute, as McCoy scored off of a pass from fellow senior Amanda Gray to give the Hornets a 1-0 lead that they would take into halftime.
    In the second half, the Hornets poured it on, scoring three more goals in the final 45 minutes of play to account for the final outcome of 4-0.
    McCoy struck first, again, in the second half, as in the 54th minute she took a feed from junior Missy Matzen and found the right side of the net to mark the margin 2-0. Less than six minutes later, in the 60th minute, Gray connected for a goal of a feed from Kim Kemper, giving her three points on the day.
    The Hornets final goal came in the 83rd minute, when junior Sarah Howard scored off an assist from fellow junior Kara Taylor to make the final 4-0.
    Taylor, a two-time all-Big Sky selection as a defender, tallied the first point of her career in the 83rd minute.
    Sophomore ‘keeper Mandy Trojan recorded her second straight clean sheet, giving her six shutouts on the season. Trojan is one shutout away from tying Stacy Himes for the most single-season shutouts in school history.

HORNETS AND GRIZZLIES BATTLE TO THIRD STRAIGHT TIE
    The Sacramento State women’s soccer team posted a 0-0 tie against Montana in a Big Sky Conference matchup held Friday, Oct. 19 at South Campus Stadium.
    The contest proved to be a defensive duel on what was a mild October day in Montana. The first half went by with little fanfare, as the Hornets outshot the Grizzlies 4-3, but only one of the combined seven shots was on net.
    The start of the second half saw the Grizzlies offense take over the game for a short period of time. In a span of 46 seconds from the 51st minute to the 52nd minute, the Grizzlies posted four chances. Kaitlyn Heinsohn had the inital chance blocked by the Hornet defense, then Frankie Brady’s shot was saved by Hornet sophomore ‘keeper Mandy Trojan. The third chance was again off the foot of Heinsohn, and the Hornets defense collected a team save, before Trojan saved the final chance of the run off the foot of Abby Graft.
    Sacramento State had several chances in the second half, most of which came on attempted chips over Montana ‘keeper Grace Harris from outside the 18-yard box. However, neither team posted a shot the final 10 minutes of regulation, leading to extra soccer.
    In the two extra periods, each team posted two shots, with Montana getting a shot on goal each period that was saved by Trojan. The Grizzlies had looked to score the game winner in the 99th minute, as a shot found the back of the net by Montana was whistled for being offside.
    Trojan ended the day with five saves for the Hornets, while Harris added three for Montana.
    Sacramento State outshot the Grizzlies 13-10, while being the aggressors of the match, collected 19 fouls to Montana’s 13. Sophomore Katelin Hopping led the way for the Hornets with three shots, while freshmen Kylee Blatz and Erin Tarantino, junior Rebeccah Phillips and senior Katie McCoy each added two shots apiece. Montana had two shots from Malia Hendrix and Heinsohn, with six other Grizzlies posting shots.
    The tie marked the third straight tie between these two teams, with the other ties occuring last year. The Hornets defeated the Grizzlies in penalty kicks in the second tied game, which was the Big Sky Tournament semifinal.