MSOC GAME NOTES

Sunbirds visit St. George on DSU Senior Day: The Dixie State men's soccer team closes out the 2014 season this week hosting Fresno Pacific on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014 at 10 a.m. on the pitch at Hansen Stadium. The match will be broadcast by SouthernUtahLive.com online and have live stats available on the main and men's soccer schedule pages on DixieAthletics.com.

Last week in DSU men's soccer: The Storm played two games at home against Bay Area foes – battling even with Dominican in a 2-2 draw and dropping a 2-1 decision to Academy of Art. Ethan VandenBosch (South Ogden, UT/Bonneville) and Santiago Alejandro (Oakley, CA/Alhambra) each scored in the Storm's draw with the Penguins. Dominican tied the match and took the lead within a span of two minutes early in the second half before DSU found its equalizer in the 80th minute. Eddie Ortiz (Las Vegas, NV/Cimarron) made two saves in goal playing all 110 minutes. On Saturday against the Urban Knights, DSU conceded two early goals, but got on the scoreboard with five seconds left in the first half. Sean Jenne (Las Vegas, NV/Centennial) scored on a rebounded shot and had a prime opportunity in the second half, but his shot bounced off the post in the 83rd minute. Ortiz played well again in goal, making five saves. 

Honoring our senior class: Dixie State will venerate the careers of five seniors playing their final match on Saturday – Spencer Anderson (Glendale, AZ/Mountain View), Erik Shallenberger (Las Vegas, NV/Arbor View), Nadav Elimelich, Dominic Torres (Mountain Home, ID/Mountain Home) and David Stirland (Hurricane, UT/Hurricane).  

Surveying the Sunbirds: Fresno Pacific enters the final week of play in a second place tie in the PacWest with BYU-Hawaii. The Sunbirds' 9-4-1 overall record and 7-2-1 mark in the league has taken a bit of a hit with just one win in their last four matches. FPU plays Azusa Pacific on Thursday before heading to St. George for Saturday's matinee. Leading the Sunbirds in scoring are Jorge Chedraui (9) and Alvaro Nogales (8). FPU tops the PacWest scoring 2.50 goals per game and rank seventh allowing 1.64 goals per game. In the lone meeting between the teams last season, DSU lost in Fresno 3-1. Jara Eshete (Stansbury, UT/Stansbury) scored into an open net after a rebounded shot found his foot.

Ortiz at the helm: Danny Ortiz (Las Vegas, NV/Cimarron) is in year seven as head coach. He is 35-73-11 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.