Men’s soccer season ends, Hornets take sixth place

The theme has been consistent — good showing, no breaks. The Sac State men’s soccer fell 1-0 to Cal Poly Saturday afternoon in the final game of the season. The loss put the team in sixth place, two spots up from its last place finish last season.

Cal Poly’s James Newton scored on a cross pass from Barrymore Matthews at 37:02 in the first half for the game’s only score and the Mustangs outshot the Hornets eleven to six in the tightly matched away game.

Sac State ends the season with a 2-5 conference record and 4-14 mark overall after the 1998 squad was 0-16-2. This year’s team lost seven games by one goal, five of which were 1-0 scores.

“Cal Poly is very tough to play at home,” coach Mike Linenberger said. “We felt we dominated in the first half and I felt we did better in the second half, but it wasn’t enough.”

The outlook seems bright for next year’s developing team. Only two seniors are leaving and there are plans of junior college transfers joining in 2000.

“I’m pleased with the progress that we made over the season. Our goal was to win six games and we came close by winning four,” Linenberger said. “We show much promise for next season.”

The greater crowds for the opposing teams could have been a factor that stood against the Hornets. The attendance for the team at home totaled 2,206 while fans at away games totaled nearly twice as many with 4,397 spectators.

“I think we should have won more games. We struggled the first eight games, but improved in the end,” sophomore Sean Luigs said. “Since we ended up in sixth place, this gives us room to do better next year.”

Next year’s team will miss the leadership and talent of Norway — born Rene Schmidt, who finished his final season with the Hornets after joining the team in 1997.

“Losing Rene will be very tough for the team. We are going to have to adjust to his absence,” Linenberger said. “We took a big step this year and are looking forward to next year.”