(MATCH NOTES)

FIRST TOUCH: Dixie State's men's soccer team (8-1-4/6-0-4 PacWest) looks to remain in the hunt for its first-ever Pacific West Conference title as the Storm plays its final two home matches of the 2015 season this week. The second-place Storm begins the homestand on Thursday, Oct. 29, as third-place Hawai'i Pacific (8-4-1/6-2-1 [19 pts] PacWest) comes to Hansen Stadium for a 7 p.m. match. Then on Halloween Saturday, the Storm wraps up their home slate against Chaminade (1-11-0/1-8-0 PacWest) in a match that will be played at nearby Dixie High School beginning at 12:30 p.m. Live stats/video links for both matches can be found at www.dixieathletics.com.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: Dixie State enters Thursday's match against HPU looking for its first-ever victory in the series as the Sharks own a 9-0-1 edge over the Storm. HPU has won the last two meetings overall after both teams played to a scoreless draw in St. George back in 2012. On the flip side DSU will look to remain perfect in its series vs. Chaminade as the Storm is 10-0-0 all-time against the Silverswords, including a 2-1 overtime result last season in Honolulu, and a 5-0 win the last time these two teams met in St. George.   

COACHING STAFF: Head Coach Josh Pittman (8-1-4 at DSU/63-63-19 overall; 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.

TRELLA NAMED PACWEST DEFENDER OF THE WEEK: For the second time this season, junior goalkeeper Bradley Trella (Chandler, Ariz./Chandler HS) was named Pacific West Conference Men's Soccer Defender of the Week this past Monday. Trella (6-2; Chandler, Ariz./Chandler HS/Yavapai CC) earned two draws in a pair of conference  road games last week. He made eight saves in a 1-1 result at California Baptist, and the one goal he did allow came on a penalty kick, which ended his shutout streak at 796:09. Trella then made four saves in another 1-1 draw at Concordia.
Trella has only allowed three goals in 10 PacWest matches and he currently leads the nation in save percentage (.909) and is second in NCAA Division II in goals-against average (.432). Meanwhile, his shutout streak of 796:09 ranks as the ninth-longest streak in NCAA Division II history, and is the longest such streak recorded since 2005. Trella, who was named PacWest Defensive Player of the Week Sept. 28, has made 63 saves and has seven shutout victories to his credit in 2015.

STORM CONTINUES RECORD-SETTING START: Dixie State extended its unbeaten streak to 10-straight matches after registering two draws at California Baptist and Concordia last weekend. The Storm's current 8-1-4 record marks the best start in program's history. Seven of DSU's eight wins this season have come via shutout, including six by a 1-0 count, while the eight wins this season is tied for the most in the program's brief seven-plus year history. DSU needs just one more victory to break the school record which was set in 2010 and first tied in 2011.
DSU has done a lot of this on the defensive side of the pitch as the Storm back field went 796:09 between goals allowed, a streak that ended last Thursday at CBU when the Lancers converted a penalty kick with just under 14 minutes to play in regulation.
Dixie State enters this week ranked #1 in the nation GAA (.432) and save percentage (.914) and is fourth-overall in shutout percentage (0.62).

QUICK KICKS: Though he did not score a point over the weekend, senior MF Santiago Alejandro (Oakley, Calif./Alhambra HS) continues to lead the team in points (16) and assists (4) and co-leads in goals scored with four ... Alejandro also leads the team in shots (31) and SOG (11), and stands alone in third place on the Storm's career assist list with seven, needing just four more dimes to become DSU's career leader ... sophomore forward Frankie Mallek (Yuma, Ariz./Kofa HS) scored his fourth goal of the season just before halftime at CBU last Thursday ... two of Mallek's four goals on the year have been game-winners, and he also scored the 400th-point in the program's history with a goal vs. APU Sept. 24 ... junior defender Jason Arollo (Glendale, Ariz./Apollo HS) also pulled into the team lead in goals scored with his fourth of the year at Concordia last Saturday ... three of Arollo's four goals are game-winners, but his goal off an assist from freshman Gabby Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS) in the 61st-minute at Concordia pulled DSU even and eventually secured a point in the PacWest standings ... Dixie State trailed for just the second time all season, and the first time in PacWest play, when Concordia netted a goal at the 20:23 mark of the match ... the Eagles' goal broke a streak of just over 980 minutes during which DSU has either led or was tied in a match ... DSU is averaging 9.1 shots per game through 13 matches, including 3.6 shots on goal ... Thursday's match vs. HPU will also serve as "Senior Night" as DSU will honor its five seniors, including Alejandro, defenders Jorge Echavarria (Las Vegas, Nev./Sierra Vista HS) and Wade Canon (Meridian, Idaho/Meridian HS), MF Alex Galvan (San Antonio, Texas/Ronald Reagan HS) and GK Ryan Brubaker (Hurricane, Utah/Hurricane HS).

UP NEXT: Dixie State will close out the 2015 regular season on Saturday, Nov. 7, as the Storm will square off against PacWest leader #16 Fresno Pacific in a possible conference championship showdown. Entering play this week, FPU leads the PacWest at 8-1-1 (25 pts), three points ahead of DSU (22) and six clear of HPU (19).