What a difference a year makes — at least that’s the anthem you would expect to hear around the Sacramento’s State women’s soccer program these days. To understand this year’s team, one must relive the perils of a year ago.

There was a rebuilding process that took place at Hornet Soccer Field in 2002, a process now close to becoming a finished product.

The reconstruction began with the addition of new head coach Karen Hanks, who inherited a team built by former coach Sandra Asimos. The challenge ahead was a race against time to find a cohesiveness that Hanks needed between herself and the players.

Although the Hornets finished 2002 outscoring the competition 6-0 in two games, their full potential was never fully realized as they finished with a 3-13-1 overall record including a 1-5 record in the Big Sky Conference.

Fast forward one year and a new attitude has been found along the sideline. Optimism reigns for this season, as the second year coach has put her stamp on the team with her first recruiting class since she became coach on Aug. 8, 2002.

Last year Hanks had just two weeks between the time she was hired and the first game of the season. This year she had the usual preparation time and has taken full advantage of it.

Teamwork is something Hanks should know about. Before coming to Sacramento, she spent seven seasons at California State University, Dominguez Hills, accumulating a 93-36-13 record with four straight California Collegiate Athletic Association titles in Division II.

Under Asimos the Hornets amassed a 55-82-10 record. Athletic Director Terry Wanless jumped at the opportunity to sign Hanks, describing her as a “high- energy” coach with good discipline.

Hanks’ blueprint for success in Sacramento includes nine new recruits, five of which are freshmen who are expected to step into significant roles now. While the offense struggled to find the net last season, Hanks believes the newcomers will improve that area.

“We’ve brought in strong athletes and strong central midfielders,” Hanks said. Last season’s team leader in goals, Lisa Wrightsman, graduated and leaves a vacancy that needs to be addressed. Fortunately for the Hornets several of the newcomers can step into that role.

Known for her excellent speed, Wrightsman scored 32 goals in her four years with the Hornet program. Finding those speed players to fill Wrightsman’s void on this roster will be important.

“We don’t have a single ‘go to’ player, we have several,” Hanks said. “Initially, it was Kelly Novak and Natalia Romo, but they’re injured right now. Lisamarie La Vallee and Kelly Law can also do it. Kelly Law has that breakaway speed. Kelly Novak has a nose for the goal.

At the goalkeeper position freshman Stephanie Shaw and junior Michelle Balzouman will look to anchor the defense. Shaw looked impressive in her first two collegiate starts against Navy and UC Davis last weekend.

“Stephanie has won the starting job for now, but her and Michelle will continue to fight for the spot,” Hanks said.

The Hornets opened the regular season with a tough 2-1 loss against Navy, but bounced back with a second half offensive eruption in a 3-1 win over the Aggies. Saturday they fell 2-0 to Fresno State, a team that was coming off of two victories over top-25 teams. “Right now, the biggest problem is we’re being out shot,” Hanks said. “We were out shot something like 22-6 against Davis. A lot of those shots against us weren’t dangerous, but us only having six shots is not good. We are more dangerous than our stats show.”

Hanks is cautious to make any bold predictions, but points out a challenging schedule as an indicator for the team’s progress.

“I like our schedule because it’s tough,” she says. “We’re taking it game to game. There are six teams in our conference. Realistically, finishing at .500 would get us into tournament play and the schedule we have will prepare us for that.”