After putting the Big Sky conference on notice last season to the tune of a 4-1-1 regular season conference record, the Sacramento State women’s soccer team is looking for more.

The team’s loss in the first round of the tournament to Northern Arizona only strengthened the team’s resolve to take it further this year.

“We have shown that we have great depth and that if someone goes down hurt we can bring someone else in and they can play meaningful minutes,” coach Katie Poynter said.

Unfortunately for the Hornets (6-5-1), someone has been going down hurt more than the coaches would like to see. The season has already seen the losses of juniors Beccah Phillips and Tiffany Fraser and freshman Katie Rorabaugh.

“We’re a little beat up right now, but overall we are playing well going into conference play,” Poynter said.

Sunday’s double overtime win over Cal Poly worked wonders for the team’s psyche.

“That game was so important to end on going into conference,” Poynter said. “It showed that when we come to play we can beat anyone.”

Last season the team appeared in the tournament for the first time since 2001. Just to get there was a huge step for the program, but with the pieces seemingly all in place for a run this season the team can smell the title…and the players want it.

“Our goal is to win the conference,” freshman Beverly Goebel said. “We want it more than anything and we are capable of taking it.”

Junior Kayelyn Satkowski, who leads the team this season with seven goals, was part of last year’s team and agrees with Goebel’s statement.

“We expect to win the conference,” she said. “It would be great to beat Weber State in the tournament because they won it all last year.”

Coach Poynter knows that if the team is to achieve its goal that they will have to stay focused. “We’re going to take it game by game,” she said. “We would love to host the tournament, but we can’t focus on that. We aren’t good enough to just look beyond any team.”

Friday’s double overtime loss to Boise State was a good barometer for the Hornets, Poynter said.

“Boise has played three teams in our conference,” she said. “They have won some and lost some so we treated that game like it was conference.”

The team insists that if they do not win the conference that it won’t be due to a lack of effort.

“The conference title is what we want,” Goebel said. “And we will do whatever it takes to get it.”

The women’s soccer team will travel to Weber State for a road match tomorrow and then to Idaho State for a 1 p.m. game.

Benn Hodapp can be reached at [email protected]