After missing out on the opportunity for a postseason berth, the Sacramento State women’s soccer team will look to regroup and rebuild for the 2014 season.

The Hornets had plenty of chances late in the conference season to secure at least a fourth seed in the Big Sky Tournament.

“We didn’t score as much as we had before and we let too many goals in this season,” said women’s soccer head coach Randy Dedini. “Overall we showed we can score goals, but we went cold for the last six games.”

Sac State lost its last three games in conference, finishing the season 7-9-2 (3-5-1). The final blow to the Hornets postseason chance came in the final home game of the regular season when they lost to Portland State 1-0 on Oct. 25.

“It would have been nice to beat Portland State not only as a team but to send out the seniors on a high note,” sophomore forward Alyssa Anderson said. “Even though we struggled in the last six games of the season, we remained upbeat and positive. There was no negativity from anyone on the team.”

Despite a disappointing finish to the 2013 season, the Hornets had outstanding play from Anderson and junior goalkeeper Kimberly Mata.

Anderson finished the season with seven goals and one assist. Three of the seven were game-winning goals.

Anderson said it was a nice honor to be the leading scoring threat on the team. 

“The goals I scored this season showed I can play well at this level,” Anderson said. “I was happy to help my team win some games with the goals I scored.”

Mata found success after finishing with 90 total saves along with a 1.26 goals against average. She also had two games in which she saved 12 shots,which ties her at fifth in school history for saves in a single game.

With her personal success this season, Mata says there is not only room for her to improve, but her team as well.

“It is hard to pinpoint to put the blame on a specific person. It was not just my fault or the midfielders or the forwards, it was the team’s fault as a whole,” Mata said. “We win as a team, we lose as a team.”  

Dedini said not only did the forwards and Mata play well, but the backline defense was a pleasant surprise.

“Our backline gelled so quickly this season with two new freshmen in the backline and moving Kassi (Anast) to center back defender,” Dedini said. “She never played that position until this season.”

Sac State will lose five seniors from this season’s roster, midfielders Jami Shimada and Raylene Larot, forwards Gabriela Trenton and Jordyn Rolling and defender Melissa Gomez.

Trenton, who never scored a goal in her career at Sac State prior to the 2013 season, scored four in the final four games of the season. She scored three of her four goals on Senior Day against Southern Utah, Oct. 13.

It was the fifth hat-trick in Sac State’s history. With Trenton’s efforts, she was awarded the Big Sky’s co-Offensive Player of the Week.

Rolling scored five goals and had three assists in her last season as a Hornet, but it was not the way the senior wanted to end the season.

“It is a bittersweet end to my career, I would have liked to win the game against Portland State,” Rolling said.    

Now that the season is over, the Hornets look forward to what they hope will be a better year in 2014 to get back into the Big Sky Conference tournament.

“We are very optimistic in what we can accomplish in the future, because everyone will have one more year under their belts,” Dedini said.

Sac State will be bringing in six freshmen players next season. Dedini said some freshmen may play in their first season.

“I believe three of those freshmen will make an immediate impact. Which three – I have no idea,” Dedini said. “It will be interesting when we start training together in the summer again.”