SAN DIEGO – San Diego State women's soccer fell to UNLV on Sunday afternoon 1-0 on the SDSU SportsDeck. The Aztecs mustered 13 shots, with five of them coming on frame.
SDSU (7-4-5, 5-2-1 MW) encountered a physical match against UNLV (4-9-3, 2-3-3 MW) as the two sides totaled 27 fouls and three yellow cards were shown over the course of the match.
To start the match, San Diego State tallied four of the first five shots, and both Carlin Blake and Rachelle Elve forced saves from Riley Liebsack in goal for UNLV, but were both denied an opening goal of the match. UNLV would then put home the go-ahead goal against the run of play in the 24th minute. After the Aztecs conceded a corner, the ball was played into the box before Kaitlyn Kowalchuk headed the ball towards goal. That header found Taylie Liddell who then headed a ball back across the face of goal which Savanah Nichols lashed home to give the Rebels a 1-0 lead.
With the Aztecs searching for a goal, later in the half in the 37th minute, Olivia Sekimoto forced another save by Liebsack in the UNLV net when her shot from just outside the box looked to have found the top right corner, but Liebsack parried it away. The Rebels would then take their 1-0 lead into the halftime break.
The second half provided more frustrating moments for the Aztecs as they searched for an equalizing goal. 12 seconds into the second half, Emma Gaines-Ramos thought she had found an equalizer, but her shot was tipped wide by Liebsack and the Aztecs remained behind in the score column. San Diego State would remain frustrated in the offensive third for the remainder of the match, but then with 13 seconds left, SDSU were given one final chance to find the back of the net. After Denise Castro was fouled just outside the UNLV box, Trinity Coker went to take the free kick. Her free kick found the head of Elve, but her header was saved by Liebsack to preserve the 1-0 win for UNLV.
In goal for the Aztecs Alexa Madueno made three stops on Sunday, while Gaines-Ramos lead the way on offense with five shots.
Up Next: San Diego State hits the road for two matches next week, at Utah State on Thursday and at Boise State on Sunday.
-SDSU-
Aztecs Fall to UNLV, 1-0
