After last year’s dismantle at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship men’s soccer tournament, Sacramento State now hopes to play the role of spoiler this time around.

Last year the Hornets left the tournament with the bitter taste of defeat, after being upset in the first round by the No. 8 seed and eventual champion, the University of New Mexico.

The Hornets went into the 2001 MPSF tournament as the regular season champions and with the No. 1 seed, but the Lobos scored the upset with a 3-2 overtime win.

The revamped tournament now gives the top-two finishers of the regular season a first round bye. Sac State, who finished fourth in the conference, will face up with No. 5 ranked University of Denver, on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. at the University of New Mexico Soccer Complex.

Denver is on a two-game winning-streak, with a 2-1 overtime win over No. 6 seed Air Force most recently. When Sac State traveled to Denver earlier in the season, the Hornets pulled out a 2-1 overtime victory with goals from David Rios and David Fraser.

If the Hornets can come out with a victory over the Pioneers as they did in the regular season, they will move onto an anticipated rematch with UNM in the second round. Sac State fell earlier this season to the No. 1 seeded Lobos in a 2-1 loss. But UNM will be coming into the tournament after suffering their first MPSF loss of the season. The Lobos fell to the No. 3 seed University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 2-0, in their regular season finale.

In the other first round contest, No. 3 UNLV will take on No. 6 Air Force. In the regular season meeting the Rebels routed the Falcons 6-0. The winner will advance to the second round to face up with No. 2 seed, and co-conference champion, San Jose State. With UNM’s loss and the Spartans 2-1 overtime victory over Sac State on Sunday, both teams finished at 5-1. Thus, the championship the Lobos expected to maintain sole possession of, must now be shared with San Jose.

There is no clear-cut winner to this tournament, although the advantage of home field does apply to UNM. Considering that last year the bottom seeds, No. 7 Fresno State and No. 8 UNM, made it to the championship game, proves that anything can happen.

Maybe this year there will be another reversal of fortunes. The Hornets only hope it will be in their favor this time around.

Both second round games will be played on Friday, with the championship game played on Sunday.