Sacramento State’s men’s hockey team began the 2009 season on a mission: to play better than they did last season.

After ending last season on a good note with a four-game winning streak, and by beating UC Davis 6-2, the Hornets are looking to finish in first place in the Pacific Collegiate Hockey Association, ahead of conference opponents Santa Clara University, Fresno State, UC Santa Barbara, UC Davis and UC Irvine. Sac State is looking to improve on last season’s 5-13-1 record.

Sac State began its 2009 season Saturday night against UC Berkeley on its home ice in Roseville with a 5-2 loss.

“The game was closer than what the scoreboard showed. It was a good game for our season opener,” said team president Cory Schiestel.

The Hornets have plenty of talent with a number of players returning to the team. Junior forward Justin Ellison, senior defenseman Matt Van Atta and junior forward Alex Shapovnikov all have two to four years of experience playing for Sac State.

“(Sac State has) done a better job of late. Cory Schiestel and (team president) Justin Ellison have done a good job resurrecting the program (and are) sending them on the right path,” said Fresno State head coach Marcel Bourdase.

Sac State’s hockey head coach Craig Kellog said team captain Matt Van Atta is the team’s best defenseman and one of the team’s best scorers. He scored six goals last year and Kellog said he expects the team will look to him for leadership, rely on the defenseman to supply solid defense and score a lot of goals.

“Matt Van Atta is one of their better players,” Bourdase said. “Year to year, the teams change, but (Sac State) is certainly committed to winning.”

Assistant captain Ramon Gsell is another player Kellog expects will get a lot of goals this season because he led the Hornets with eight goals last season. The sophomore forward is someone Kellog expects to score a lot again for Sac State this season.

Schiestel expects Alex Shapovnikov to have another good season. He said that Shapovnikov is considered the toughest member and one of fastest players on Sac State’s roster.

“We’re looking forward to seeing big things from (Alex) this year,” Schiestel said.

Sac State is considered as a tough opponent in the PCHA because it is not a one-man team and every player on the roster has the potential to be a gamebreaker.

“They have a team with pretty evenly distributed talent, not one superstar,” said Santa Clara head coach Lou Caputo. “No one player carries their team. They have a good nucleus of solid players.”

The Hornets overall are a very fast team. Kellog said hockey players are already moving faster than people can run when skating on the ice, but Sac State players use speed to race to pucks faster than other teams, outspeed opponents in open ice, move past defenders, get a good shot on net and, if all else goes well, score a goal.

“Speed makes a big difference,” he said. “Other teams try to catch them, but they can’t.”

The Hornets want to continue relying on defense to win games and play a more conservative game in order to have a winning season.

Graduate student and goaltender Tim Kesner returns to the team after playing four years and coming off of a good season last year.

“We’ve definitely got a solid defensive core,” Kesner said. “We just picked up a couple of goal scoring forwards, who can put the puck in the net.”

This season the Hornets will be adding five new players, including freshmen Kyle Buckingham, Thomas Coursey, Kevin Kiaski and Malachi Mahan. Kellog hopes the senior members of the club will counsel new players that may not have played in competitive leagues similar to Division III hockey.

Ellison said the team struggled a bit last year and came close to making the playoffs, but came up one game short. This year, he wants to make a run in the PCHA, have a good year, make new friends and have a winning season so fans will want to watch home games at Skatetown in Roseville.

Sac State is hoping to improve its physical game by getting more hits, be better passers and use speed to get more breakouts as well as get in for the check.

Sac State will play 19 regular season games, and if the Hornets can win the conference playoffs in South Lake Tahoe, they will continue on to play in the ACHA Regional Playoffs in Las Vegas.

Ellison said the players are excited to playing four games against UC Davis and two versus Fresno State. Because both schools are rivals of Sac State, the games are always close and have lots of penalties and fighting.

Kellog is especially looking forward to the long road trip to play Northern Arizona University, because he said road games are an opportunity for players to bond and get to know each other on a personal and social level.

He wants older players to help new members develop their game. Kellog said older players helped new members move into the dorms.

Since hockey at Sac State is a sport club, a lot of emphasis is put on players getting along and having fun while competing against other schools.

Kellog said the team has done activities to get to know each other such as a team barbecue and the older players helped the new players move into their dorms, hoping that team bonding would encourage the team to play as a unit and keep the atmosphere friendly and fun. He wants the team’s familiarity with each other to transfer to a connected team on the ice.

Players are more comfortable on the ice when the team has a friendly chemistry, Ellison said.

“They’ve got (and) always had a solid team and seem to work together well. They’re pretty cohesive and get along great on the ice,” Caputo said.

“(Individual skills) might win games, but it won’t win championships,” Kellog said.

Jeondra Arrington can be reached at [email protected]