LOS ANGELES, CA – Making their first ever appearance in the NCAA Division-II Soccer Championships, the Dixie State College of Utah Red Storm had their season ended by Cal State University Dominguez Hills 4-1 on Friday afternoon on the campus of Cal State Los Angeles.
Jessica Murphy, the leading scorer in the regular for Dominguez Hills, put the Toros ahead early in the seventh minute netting a shot in the left corner after Lexi Ford stole the ball in the Red Storm goal box.
Dixie State evened the match in the 13th minute on a Carly Haycock (Bountiful. UT/Bountiful HS '06) goal under the cross bar. Mikala Wilkes (Cedar Hills. UT/Lone Peak HS '06), Pacific West Conference Player of the Year, set up the opportunity passing a shot to Jordyn Hutchinson on the left side. She centered to Haycock for the goal.
Dominguez Hills scored twice in the final six minutes of the first half to pull away. Yadira Gomez centered the ball in the 40th minute for Makenzi Pedrotti who headed the ball past DSC goalie Tonya Smith (Eagle Mountain. UT/Lehi) for the go-ahead score. Five minutes later, Murphy lofted a shot over Smith's head for a CSUDH 3-1 lead heading into halftime.
CSUDH added an insurance goal at 69:32 of the second half on a Brooke Thompson goal. She found an empty net after Murphy eluded Smith in the box and threaded a pass for the open shot.
The Red Storm could not manage another shot against the Toro defense in the match's last 20 minutes. DSC was out shot 16 to 13 including an 8-3 shots on goal tally.
Dixie State's outstanding season come to an end after a 14-4 regular season, a Pac West best 13-1 conference mark and Division-II postseason soccer nod for the first time in school history. The Toros (14-8-1) advance to the second round to face CCAA rival Cal State L.A., the West region's top-seed, on Sunday at 1pm MT.
