The San Diego State men’s soccer team now has a three-game winning streak after defeating the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 3-1 on Friday at the SDSU Sports Deck.
Sophomore defender Evyn Hewett wasted no time scoring SDSU’s first goal in the ninth minute with a header from a cross from senior midfielder Jose Altamirano. The goal was Hewett’s first of the season.
“I received the ball from Casey Meuser and I fake shot it with my left and crossed it with my right, and then Hewett headed the ball in,” Altamirano said.
The Aztecs controlled the tempo of the game and continued to fire off shots before finally putting one in the back of the net.
Well into the first half, junior midfielder Morgan Sacco assisted junior midfielder Blake Wise with the Aztecs’ second goal of the game in the 30th minute.
The goal, which was Blake’s first of the season, was an incredible 40- yarder right over the goalkeeper into the net. The assist was Sacco’s third of the season.
“It was a pretty nice goal,” Wise said. “I scored with about 20 minutes left in the half and when you score a goal, it gives your team a confidence boost and we really needed that going into the half.” The Rebels entered the second half trailing behind the Aztecs 2-0, but made it a game when a UNLV player was taken down in the box and sophomore midfielder Julian Portugal scored on a penalty kick in the 54th minute.
It was the Rebels’ first and only goal of the game.
The Aztecs sealed the win against UNLV when junior midfielder Kevin Bick scored SDSU’s third and final goal with a shot in the lower left corner of the net from 15 yards out in the 74th minute with assistance from Altamirano.
“I thought we played really well as a team,” Wise said. “There was a lot of really good moments and there was a couple of hiccups during the play. But overall, as a team I thought we played really well and I was really happy with our performance.”
The Aztecs outshot the Rebels 12-8 in the first half and 12-11 in the second half. Bick had three shots on goal, while Altamirano, Meuser, Wise and Hewett each had one shot on goal.
Defensively, junior goalkeeper Blake Hylen had a total of nine saves against UNLV.
The Aztecs will start conference play at 4:30 p.m. on Friday against the California Bears in Berkeley before taking on the Stanford Cardinals on Sunday.
“I feel like we are getting stronger and stronger together as a team,” Altamirano said. “It’s just fun to see the team progress every game.”
