(GAME NOTES - PDF)

OPENING TOUCH: Dixie State's men's soccer team (2-1-0/0-0-0 PacWest) will open PacWest Conference play at Hansen Stadium this week during DSU's Homecoming festivities. The Storm will play host to Azusa Pacific (0-3-1/0-0-0 PacWest) on Thursday, Sept. 24, at 7 p.m., followed by a showdown vs. Point Loma (1-2-1/0-0-0) on Homecoming Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Live stats information for both matches can be found at HERE.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: Dixie State enters Thursday's match against APU in search of win No. 1 vs. the Cougars as Azusa Pacific has won each of the previous four meetings, including a 2-1 overtime result last season in Azusa, Calif.

DSU is 1-2-0 in three previous meetings with Point Loma, with the Sea Lions having won the last two matches in the series. Dixie State's lone win vs. PLNU came at home in 2012 by a 2-1 count in overtime.

COACHING STAFF: Head Coach Josh Pittman (2-1-0 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 will be joined on the DSU sideline by first-year assistant Joe Hickman.

STORM PICKED FOURTH 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-Hawaii and Point Loma rounded out the top-half of the poll.

DSU HANGS WITH REAL MONARCHS IN EXHIBITION FRIENDLY: Dixie State's men's and women's soccer team hosted the Southern Utah Soccer Showcase last Saturday at Hansen Stadium. As part of the two-match showcase, the DSU men played the Real Monarchs, the minor league team of the MLS Real Salt Lake, in an exhibition friendly that ended in a 3-2 Monarchs victory. The fans were not disappointed in the action, especially in the game's first 90 second as DSU took a quick 1-0 on a Jorge Echavarria (Oakley, Calif./Alhambra HS) goal. However the Monarchs would answer with two goals in the next 15 minutes, including a DSU own goal, to take a 2-1 lead. The Monarchs would tack on an insurance tally in the 81st-minute, which proved to be needed as the Storm climbed to within a goal at 3-2 with 15 seconds to play as freshman Austin Azevedo (Meridian, Idaho/Mountain View HS) scored off a deflected free kick. But that would be as close as DSU could get as the Monarchs maintained possession and ran out the clock to secure the result. The Monarchs outshot DSU 16-6, including a 6-4 edge on frame. Senior keeper Ryan Brubaker (Hurricane, Utah/Hurricane HS) made two stops and sophomore netminder Bradley Trella (Chandler, Ariz./Chandler HS) registered one save.

QUICK KICKS: Dixie State's 2-1-0 start matches the best start the program's brief seven-year history ... The Storm also started the 2009 campaign (program's second year) at 2-1-0 ... DSU has already matched last season's win total of two ... Dixie State's next goal scored will be the be the 400th-point scored in school history ... senior MF Santiago Alejandro (Oakley, Calif./Alhambra HS) recorded an assist on DSU's GW goal at Biola Sept. 12, which moved him into a tie for fourth-place on the Storm's caeer assist list with five ... fellow senior Bryan Baugh (Henderson, Nev./Green Valley HS) is alone in second on that list with seven career dimes and needs just four more to pass former DSU player Tyler Albretsen (10) to become DSU's all-time assists leader ... junior netminder Bradley Trella (Chandler, Ariz./Chandler HS) has stopped 11 of 14 opponent shots on goal through his first three outings and owns a 1.00 GAA after his shutout win at Biola ... DSU is averaging just under nine shots per game through its first three matches, including 4.1 shots on goal ... DSU's match at Cal Poly Pomona was canceled due to bad weather and poor field conditions, which marked the first time in program history a Storm match was canceled because of --- a storm.

HEAD COACH JOSH PITTMAN ON THE STORM: "We are excited to get the PacWest conference play going. We feel we are going to be very competitive and look forward to these tough games this weekend against two of the top teams in the conference."

UP NEXT: Dixie State heads back out on the road to California for a pair of PacWest matches in the Bay Area, beginning with a date at Dominican University on Friday, Oct. 2 at 1:30 p.m. (PT), in San Rafael. The Storm will then close the trip on Sunday, Oct. 4, with a match at Holy Names at 1:30 p.m. (PT), in Oakland.