The Sacramento State men’s soccer team was defeated in the first round of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament on Nov. 10, officially ending the team’s effort to three-peat.

The Hornets lost to the San Jose State Spartans 4-2 just five days after beating them 3-2.

Sac State took the lead early in the first half when forward Max Alvarez converted a penalty kick in the 16th minute after San Jose was called for a handball.

Later in the second half San Jose State equalized with a penalty shot of its own converted by midfielder Diego Ochoa.

The Spartans barely had time to celebrate as the Hornets took the lead just 35 seconds later after midfielder Almog Strikowski capitalized on a rebound and put the ball into the back of the net for a 2-1 Hornet lead.

San Jose State would rally back and score 3 goals in a span of 10 minutes to eliminate Sac State in the MPSF quarterfinal.

Graduating senior forward Chris Bettencourt was named in the first team all-MPSF. He led the team with 7 goals and 4 assists playing all 19 games and started in all but one. He also led the team with three game-winning goals. Bettencourt is the 20th first team all-MPSF selection for the Hornets since moving to the league in 1992.

Alex Lopez and Max Alvarez were named to the second team all-MPSF and Casey Bernard and Adam Bettencourt were honorable mentions.

The Hornets had an overall record of 9-8-2 and a conference record of 5-4-1.  Two of Sac State’s more notable victories this season were at then-ranked No. 19 Loyola Marymount and the first matchup against San Jose State.

Daniel Morales can be reached at [email protected].