WEEK 8 MSOC GAME NOTES

DSU to California for final road games of 2014: The Dixie State Red Storm will look to break a three-match skid on the road when they take on current PacWest leader Azusa Pacific and Point Loma in Southern California. The Storm faces the Cougars on Thursday, Oct. 23 at 6:30 p.m. PT at the Cougar Soccer Complex in Azusa, Calif. On Saturday, Oct. 25 at 12 noon PT, DSU plays on the shores of the Pacific Ocean against the Sea Lions at the PLNU Soccer Field. Both matches will have live stats available on the main and men's soccer schedule pages on DixieAthletics.com.

Last week in DSU men's soccer: Dixie State had their current scoreless match streak hit three after a 1-0 loss on Thursday, Oct. 16 to Notre Dame de Namur and a 3-0 defeat to Holy Names on Saturday, Oct. 18. In the NDNU match, the clubs were even in shots with 10. But a 63rd minute goal from Hunter LeBlanc proved to be the difference in the Argos' victory. During Saturday's match with HNU, the Red Storm posted a 15-12 shot advantage, but none of the DSU shots found the net. PacWest Preseason Player of the Year and league leading goal scorer Jaime Phillips put the Hawks on the board in the 27th minute. Two more goals gave Holy Names their first league victory of the year in six tries. 

Scouting the Cougars, Sea Lions: Azusa Pacific enters the week as co-leaders in the PacWest with a 6-1 league mark and 9-2 overall record for the year. The Cougars are on a five-match winning streak including home wins over Holy Names (4-3) and Notre Dame de Namur (2-1) last week. They rank fourth in the league in scoring with 1.909 goals per game. Defensively, the Cougars are the top cats in the PacWest allowing a stingy 1.09 goals per game to their opponents. Dixie State is winless in three matches all-time with APU, including a 4-2 defeat in the only matchup contested in California during the 2012 season. Point Loma enters play this week with a five-game unbeaten streak. After starting the year with a draw and seven losses, the Sea Lions have won four of the last five. Last week, PLNU took down Dominican (3-1) and Academy of Art (1-0) at home. Point Loma slots in just ahead of Dixie State in scoring, averaging 1.077 goals per game compared to the Red Storm's 0.81. The Sea Lions have stayed in matches with the league's third best scoring against average at 1.38 goals per game. DSU has split two matches with PLNU in the all-time series. Both matches were played in St. George. 

Looking ahead to the final stretch: The final three matches of the year will take place at home in Hansen Stadium. Next week, Dixie State hosts Dominican on Thursday, Oct. 30 and Academy of Art on Saturday, Nov. 1.

Ortiz at the helm: Danny Ortiz is in year seven as head coach. He is 35-70-10 in his tenure at Dixie State since the program's reinstatement in 2008. Ortiz also leads as Director of the Southern Utah Soccer Association and continues to work with Utah Youth Soccer Association on the State Coaching Education staff and as the Southern Utah Olympic Development Program Director.