With a month left to go in the season, Sacramento State’s men’s and women’s soccer teams look to make one final push toward qualifying for their respective conference tournaments.

The men’s soccer team has a record of 6-5-1, while the women’s team is 7-4-4.

The men’s team started the season well with a 3-0-1 record, but since then the Hornets have struggled.

Sac State men’s soccer head coach Michael Linenberger said that with the exception of the game against Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, which the Hornets lost 4-0, Sac State has competed well in every game.

“During our first four games when we were 3-0-1, we were finding ways to make important plays, whether on the defensive end to prevent a goal, or on the offensive end to find a way to score a goal,” he said. “Over the last five games, we feel our performance has still been good, just we haven’t been able to make big plays when we need it.”

Linenberger added that keeping better track of their opponents on defense as well as giving his players verbal direction, the Hornets will successfully make plays to prevent goals.

The men’s team is preparing for its final Mountain Pacific Sports Federation games by putting more pressure on goalkeepers during practice.

Linenberger said that in order to attack the opposition’s net, the final crosses, finishing touches and final passes have to be better.

“We’ve had a bye this week, a good, solid 10 days of practice,” said freshman forward David Norton. “We’ll be looking to get right back into getting some wins again”

The Hornets are 2-0 in the Mountain Pacific.

While the men’s soccer team has struggled, the women’s team has flourished under the direction of head coach Randi Dedini.

Sac State started the season with a 3-0-2 record and have continued to do well. Sophomore goalkeeper Savannah Abercrombie had three consecutive shutouts during this stretch.

Sac State went on the road and lost to Nevada, Pepperdine and San Diego State. Dedini’s squad did not score a goal during the losing streak.

The women’s team then found its stride again. Sac State finished its five game road trip by defeating Fresno State 2-0 and Cal 1-0. It was the first time Sac State beat the Bulldogs in Fresno, and Cal was ranked 10th nationally at the time.

The Hornets have continued their success in conference play. They are currently tied for third place in the Big Sky standings with Portland State.

Sac State defeated Northern Arizona University 2-1 on Oct. 9 and the University of Northern Colorado 1-0 on Oct. 11.

Dedini said that overall he is impressed with his team’s defensive efforts.

“Right now, we’re defending extremely well as a team, not just the backline and the goalkeeper,” he said. “I think our one weakness right now is that we are not scoring enough goals to really secure games early.”

Abercrombie has six shutouts this season and she broke the school record for career shutouts with 14 in the win against Northern Colorado. The team has given up only 11 goals.

The Hornets tied with San Jose State 1-1 on Oct. 4, the last game before Big Sky Conference play started.

“We stepped it up … except we couldn’t finish with another goal to come out with a win,” said junior forward Erin Tarantino.

Dedini said he would like to see the Hornets get to the point where they can secure games with a second and third goal.

“The game’s in no way under control with a one goal lead,” he said.

Jeondra Arrington can be reached at [email protected]