Benn Hodapp – Mandy Trojan

I have seen only two sports in person so far this year, so the performance of the year has to come from either women’s soccer or men’s basketball.

Since the women’s soccer season has played out all the way, I would have to say that the game of the year was the Big Sky Tournament semifinal match between Sacramento State and Montana.

I know that as a beat writer I cannot root for Sac State, but I am allowed to enjoy what I am watching, and I enjoyed that game immensely. I only wish I could have been there in person instead of watching on Big Sky TV.

Anyways, the game headed into overtime tied 1-1 and after two scoreless overtimes it was time for the all-important penalty kick shootout.

Can I just say that it is completely unjust to end any game with a shootout? The teams just finished killing themselves for 110 minutes and the game is going to end with players kicking a tiny ball into a huge net from 12 yards away? I haven’t played soccer since I was 11 and I still like my chances of getting one in, in that situation. Decide the game on the field.

The game ended with Sac State winning 5-4 after freshman goalie Mandy Trojan saved Montana’s first kick. For this reason I give the fall sports performance of the year to Trojan for that ice cold stop.

Freshmen Beverly Goebel and Katie Rorabaugh netted their PKs, as did sophomore Kara Taylor and junior Katie McCoy, leading up to the final shot.

Honorable mention goes to senior Kelly Novak for putting away the game-winner in her penultimate Sac State match.

Two days later the Hornets lost in the championship match to Idaho State in the same manner in which they beat Montana, proving without a question in my mind that shootouts are a waste. Win or lose, the system is broken.

Aaron Boore – Kim Sheehy

It has been an interesting year in the world of sports for Sacramento State Hornets teams.

We had teams do better than anyone could have expected and we have had teams not live up to the expectations that they had coming into the season. But, altogether, I must say our athletes put in the time and the hard work to be called winners.

So with the semester coming to an end, I stop and think back to what was the most memorable performance that I can recall throughout the fall semester by a Sac State athlete.

A couple performances come to mind when I think about the semester in sports; I think of Haron Hargrave’s fadeaway three at the end of overtime to pull off the upset over the University of Pacific.

There is also sophomore Atty Boyer’s first career double-double in the women’s loss to Nevada on Friday night.

Switch sports and think about the volleyball team and their run to the NCAA tournament, it was a great season for our Hornets volleyball team to say the least.

But for me the most memorable moment of the year came on Saturday when all-conference guard Kim Sheehy delivered it. In a season that has been a surprise for the women’s basketball team, and not a good surprise, Sheehy delivered the most excitement out of the team all year. With the Hornets down by 17 points at the nine-minute mark of the second half, Sheehy put the team on her back and almost pulled a shocking upset of the UC Davis Aggies.

In the game, Sheehy had a game-high 16 points with 11 coming in the second half. She sank four three pointers against the Aggies and, if that was not enough, she dished out a game and career-high eight assists.

The numbers may not blow you away just by looking at them, but it was how it was done in the context of the game. Sheehy provided the majority of her points when her team was on the comeback and, most importantly, it finally gave Sac State fans something to cheer about at the women’s hoops games.

Matthew Beltran – Tyson Butler

Now is a time to look back and reflect on the ups in Hornet sports and, trust me, there were many. From sophomore linebacker Cyrus Mulitalo racking up 21 tackles, junior quarterback Marcel Marquez having two break-out games on the road to senior wide-out Jason Barnes ending his career with the Hornets on a high note with 173-yards receiving in the Causeway Classic, this year’s highlight reel has some exciting moments.

But if I had to narrow it down to one player, I might as well highlight the moment when I became impressed by the Hornets football team. The first home game against Cal Poly was a sign of new things to come for the school’s most disrespected program. This game is where we saw it all: the new attitude of our offense with Marquez under center, a hard-hitting Hornet defense and, most importantly, the fact that the team showed they have the potential of a playoff contender.

There were a lot of playmakers in that game, but I’m going to nominate the player where a lot of the team’s motivation and attitude came from. It was in that game that senior linebacker Tyson Butler became a household name, well maybe at least at Butler’s house. But seriously, the guy had nine stops and his 79-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown got the whole stadium up on its feet.

The man is a beast and always made his presence felt whenever he was on the field. This season you saw Butler on the blitz more often, allowing Mulitalo in the middle to roam freely. The added pressure from Butler and, not to mention, the outstanding performance from the defensive line, made this front seven one of the best units during former coach Steve Mooshagian’s reign.

All season this guy was hustling and inspiring his teammates to play on the same level, but it was the Cal Poly game where Butler set the bar for the rest of the season.