Andrew Huse, Staff Photographer

How often do you go to Las Vegas and leave in a better mood than when you got there?

Seriously. “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” isn’t exactly a statement infused with optimism.

Try telling that to the San Diego State men’s soccer team.

SDSU (4-2-1) went into the UNLV Rebel Classic Tournament as winners of two consecutive games and left as winners of four straight. The Aztecs doubled down on their win column and escaped as champions of the tournament in which they placed all their money.

SDSU pulled off a 2-1 double-overtime victory against Drake University (4-3-1) on Saturday at Peter Johann Field after a 1-0 shutout against Missouri State (2-5-1) on Friday night. Not a bad pair of wins to walk away with in Sin City.

In their second victory, the Aztecs’ more dramatic of the two, the team played its best ball of the season.

In the 109th minute of the contest, senior midfielder and co-captain Kraig Chiles fired in the winning goal on a shot from eight yards out with the sophomore defender Nick Cardenas.

Thanks to that shot, and yet another win, SDSU’s momentum is snowballing. The team has allowed just one goal in its four victories and head coach Lev Kirshner and his players’ morale must be soaring.

The Aztecs began the Saturday night marathon when redshirt sophomore defender Jamel Wallace scored on a ricocheted shot from junior forward Omar Persad in the seventh minute. It was Wallace’s second goal in as many games and his third on the season.

The Bulldogs, ranked 12th in the NSCAA/Adidas poll, didn’t have an answer until the 71st minute when sophomore midfielder Calvin Clark converted in traffic off of a well placed corner kick, tying the game at 1-1.

SDSU, though, kept up its aggressive style through the remainder of the regulation time and into the extra periods. The Aztecs got off seven shots in overtime compared to just two for Drake.

With the win, SDSU improved to 1-0-1 in overtime games in 2007.

A common theme in Aztecs victories, overtime or not, has been the outstanding play of freshman goalkeeper Brad Byrns. Byrns stopped five Bulldogs’ shots-on-goal while improving his personal record to 4-1-1.

Earlier in the weekend, SDSU defeated the Bears 1-0 thanks in large part to another Wallace goal scored off a cross from junior defender Dennis Sanchez.

The Aztecs out-shot Missouri State 11-10, including 5-4 in shots-on-goal.