When the men’s soccer team walked off Hornet Soccer Field following an ugly 2-1 loss Sunday, the Hornets showed a look of disappointment.

While in past seasons, this disappointment would be another lackluster season resulting in a sub-500 record, in 2005 it was the disappointment of being on the verge of accomplishing what no other Hornets team had done since joining Division I in 1991-make the NCAA College Cup field-and not being able to finish the job.

The 2005 season marked one of the best Hornets seasons in history. The accomplishments began before the season even started. First, this year’s freshman class was regarded as the program’s best with the addition of nine capable players including All-American defender Jeff Buddenbohn. But it was on the field that the season began to show some real promise.

But promise is all that they’re left with.

“With this year’s and my success, I’m just proud to be a part of building a better program at Sacramento State,” Hornets goalkeeper Matt McDougall said.

“I’ve been here for seasons when we’ve had four or five wins; it’s just good for the program to take such a big step.”

After dropping the season opener at Saint Mary’s 3-0, the Hornets came back strong to defeat both Oregon State, which marked their first victory over a Pac-10 foe since 1999, and Dayton at home-another strong soccer program-on their way to a record eight match unbeaten streak at home. A championship at the Long Island University Soccer Classic followed, as did the first win over causeway rival UC Davis for any of the current Hornets players. Playing second-ranked New Mexico into overtime twice this season and accumulating nine wins-the most since the 1992 team won 10 games-was also notable.

“This was the first time that we’ve had this kind of success with achance at an at-large berth in the College Cup,” head coach Mike Linenberger, who recorded his 100th career victory this season, said. “Hopefully it will set a new standard for the program to continue to achieve a winning record.”

As for the individual accomplishments, senior McDougall set the program record for career saves early in the season and ended his career with 299 saves and 11 shutouts.

Four times this season, a Hornets player earned the distinction of conference player of the week with junior Oscar Sandoval recording the honor twice this season. Also, Eliot Ricks-Chambers, junior, and Marco Ramirez, senior, were recognized by the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

Another award that Hornets were recognized for was College Soccer News’ National Team of the Week that is announced recognizing the top 11 players from each week. Sandoval was named to this team twice as well, while Ramirez was named to the team following his MVP performance in the LIU Soccer Classic.

But for all of their accomplishments, the Hornets men did not earn a berth in the College Cup. While the three seniors-McDougall, Ramirez, and Ricky Rodriguez-will not be around, 2006 is looking like it may be the year for the Hornets to break out in the men’s soccer scene.

Sac State will return eight starters from this year’s squad and will feature nine seniors. If the pieces fall into place, most notably at the goalkeeper and center midfield spots, then the Hornets may finally be dancing into the tournament. But for now they’re left with the disappointment of not coming through in the clutch on Sunday.

As Rodriguez said, “This team is going to be really good next year and proved that Sac State can compete with the top teams.”

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Tyler Stalker can be reached at [email protected]