(MATCH NOTES)

Dixie State (7-1-1/5-0-1 PacWest) will look to remain atop the Pacific West Conference standings this week as the Storm embarks on a four-match road swing, which starts with a pair of games in the Bay Area. DSU opens the trip on Thursday, Oct. 15, with a match at Notre Dame de Namur (5-5-0/3-2-0 PacWest) at 2 p.m. (PT), at Koret Field on the NDNU campus in Belmont. The Storm will then take on fourth-place Academy of Art (5-3-2/3-1-1 PacWest) Saturday at 2:30 p.m., (PT) at the CCSF Field in San Francisco. Live stats links for both matches can be found at www.dixieathletics.com.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: Dixie State enters Thursday's match at NDNU looking for its first-ever victory vs. the Argonauts. DSU is 0-9-0 all-time against the Argos overall, though five of those losses were by one goal. DSU trails in its overall series with Academy of Art, 3-4-1, as the Urban Knights have won the previous two meetings, including a 2-1 result in St. George last year, and a 4-1 triumph the last time the two teams met in San Francisco in 2013. The last Dixie State win in the series came in 2011, which was a 4-1 result home result at Hansen Stadium.

COACHING STAFF: Head Coach Josh Pittman (7-1-1 at DSU/East Stroudsburg, 1999) is in his first season at the helm of the Storm men's soccer program. Prior to his arrival to St. George, Pittman spent seven seasons as head coach at Colorado Mesa, where he led the Mavericks to the 2013 RMAC tournament title and league tournament appearances (2010, 2012-13). He also served on the coaching staffs at Metro State and Adams State, and spent a year with the MLS Colorado Rapids as a development academy coach. Pittman is joined on the DSU sideline by first-year assistant Joe Hickman.

STORM PICKED 12TH IN PACWEST: Dixie State was picked to finish 12th in the Pacific West Conference preseason coaches' poll. Azusa Pacific was tabbed as the favorite and repeat as PacWest champions. The Cougars received 12 of the possible 14 first-place votes, while Fresno Pacific and Notre Dame de Namur also received a first-place vote. FPU claimed the second spot, followed closely by California Baptist and NDNU. BYU-Hawai'i and Point Loma rounded out the top-half of the poll.

ECHAVARRIA NAMED PACWEST DEFENDER OF THE WEEK: DSU senior defender Jorge Echavarria (Las Vegas, Nev./Sierra Vista HS) was named Pacific West Conference Men's Soccer Defensive Player of the Week Monday for his efforts in leading the first-place Red Storm to two home wins last week. Echavarria helped Dixie State extend its school-record run of five-consecutive shutout victories as the Storm posted wins over BYU-Hawai'i (1-0) and Hawai'i Hilo (2-0). He broke up several entry passes and crosses in those two matches, and his play has led DSU to a shutout streak of over 500 minutes.

STORM CONTINUES RECORD-SETTING START: Dixie State is off to its best start in program history this season as the Storm has played to a 7-1-1 overall record through nine matches. Six of DSU's seven wins this season have come via shutout, while the victory total is the second-most in the program's brief seven-plus year history. DSU now stands two victories shy of breaking the school record of eight wins set in 2010 and tied in 2011.

DSU has done a lot of this on the defensive side of the pitch as the Storm back field is currently riding an impressive shutout streak that has reached 500:50, which is a span of just over 5.5 matches since DSU has surrendered a goal. The Storm posted its school-record fifth-straight shut out victory last Saturday vs. Hawai'i Hilo, 2-0. The previous school record for consecutive shutout victories was two set in 2010 and matched in 2011.

Dixie State enters this week ranked in the top-10 in the nation in three statistical categories, including second in save percentage (.915), t-fourth in shutout percentage (.067), and sixth in goals against average (0.43). Junior goalkeeper Bradley Trella (Chandler, Ariz./Chandler HS), who has played every minute in goal for the Storm this season, is ranked second-nationally in save percentage (.907), t-3rd in goals allowed (4) and 7th in GAA (.434). Trella, who was named PacWest Defensive Player of the Week Sept. 28, has made 42 saves and has six shutout victories to his credit in 2015.

QUICK KICKS: Senior Santiago Alejandro (Oakley, Calif./Alhambra HS) padded his team lead in points with his two-goal performance vs. Hawai'i Hilo last Saturday ... Alejandro has 11 points on team-highs of four goals and three assists ... Alejandro also leads the team in shots (23) and SOG (11), and is tied for third-place on the Storm's career assist list with six ... junior defender Jason Arollo (Glendale, Ariz./Apollo HS) tallied his third goal of the year in the 1-0 win vs. BYU-H ... in fact all three of Arollo's goals are game-winners as he struck for goals vs. Point Loma (9/26) and at Biola (9/12) ... sophomore forward Frankie Mallek (Yuma, Ariz./Kofa HS) scored Dixie State's 400th-point in school history with his goal vs. APU Sept. 24 ... DSU is averaging 9.5 shots per game through its first nine matches, including 4.2 shots on goal ... this week marks the first time in program history that DSU has been alone in first place in the PacWest standings after six matches.

UP NEXT: Dixie State concludes its four-match road swing next week as the Storm heads down to SoCal to face PacWest rival California Baptist on Thursday, Oct. 22, and league newcomer Concordia University on Saturday, Oct. 24.