Courtesy of San Diego State Athletics

SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State women’s soccer team opened its Mountain West Championship on Sunday night on the SDSU Sports Deck. The fourth-seeded Aztecs were matched up against the fifth-seeded UNLV Rebels in the First Round of the tournament. SDSU jumped out to an early lead when Denise Castro and Kali Trevithick each scored in the first 15 minutes of the match. After taking a 2-1 lead into halftime, Trevithick scored again to open the second half, leading to a 3-1 Aztec victory. San Diego State advances to the Semifinals, where it will play top-seeded Boise State at 7 p.m. on Wednesday night.

San Diego State (9-7-4, 6-2-3 Mountain West) came out of the gates hot, with Denise Castro scoring just 72 seconds into the match. It came on a set piece off a corner kick. Trinity Coker kicked it in to Castro, who headed the ball in for the fastest Aztec score in a match since Rachel Speros scored 56 seconds into the match at New Mexico on October 27, 2017. In the 15th minute, Kali Trevithick intercepted a pass by UNLV (7-11-2, 5-5-1 MW) keeper Hanne Breur near midfield and ran it all the way back, firing a bending shot into the corner of the net past Breur. Trevithick put another shot on goal in the 27th minute but Breur was able to make the save.

The Rebel attack started to get going late in the first half. In the 36th minute, UNLV’s Tori Martinez scored with assists by Torie Reardon and Trinity Buchanan. In the 42nd minute, Summer Pyles put a shot on frame, but Aztec keeper Alexa Madueno made her first save of the night to keep the Aztecs on top heading into halftime. SDSU entered the match with wins in the last 18 matches that it led at halftime.

Just 92 seconds into the second half, Emma Gaines-Ramos passed into the box to Trevithick, who fired a shot past Breur again for her second goal of the night to provide an important insurance goal for San Diego State. Dori Savage and Mia Lane forced another pair of saves by Breur in the 62nd and 70th minutes, respectively. Madueno made two more saves, coming in the 80th and 81st minutes, while Alexyz Nakamoto forced one last save by Breur seconds later. The Aztecs held on to advance to Wednesday’s Semifinals round.

San Diego State tallied more shots (17-10), shots on goal (8-4) and corner kicks (10-6) while UNLV had more saves (5-3) and fouls (12-10).

Madueno’s three saves increased her career total to 407. Her 99 saves this season are tied with Elizabeth Judkins (1994) for the third most in a season by an Aztec. She trails just her 101 from last season and Aubree Southwick, who had 106 in 2007.

Castro’s quick score was her tenth of the season, matching her career-high, which she set last year. The two points give her 84 for her career, which moves her into sole possession for third in the program record book. Her 35th career goal also moved her out of a tie for third in that category, in which she now trails Kim Castellanos’ second-place mark by just one.

Trevithick’s brace was the fourth of her career but her first on the SDSU Sports Deck. Two of them occurred in road wins over UC San Diego and Fresno State last season while the other was when she played for UCLA in 2022. Trevithick doubled her season goal total in one night, with her other two goals this season both coming at home against Stanford and Fresno State. She is now tied with Dori Savage, who had a brace of her own on Thursday, for third on the team with four goals.

The fourth-seeded Aztecs will be back on the SDSU Sports Deck on Wednesday for their Mountain West Championship Semifinal match against top-seeded Boise State at 7 p.m. PT. The winner advances to the Championship match, held at 6 p.m. on Saturday, against the winner of No. 2-seed Utah State and No. 3-seed Colorado State. The entire tournament is being broadcast on the Mountain West Network.