(MATCH NOTES)

OPENING TOUCH: Dixie State (11-3-0/9-0-0 PacWest) continues its regular-season ending homestand this week as the Trailblazers host two Pacific West Conference matches to close out the month of October. DSU will welcome Dominican University (3-11-1/3-6-1 PacWest) to town this Saturday for a match that will be played at nearby Dixie High School beginning at 4:30 p.m. Then on Halloween Monday, the Trailblazers host Notre Dame de Namur (7-7-0/5-4-0 PacWest) at Legend Solar Stadium at 1 p.m.
    DSU enters the week riding a school-record 11-game winning streak after beginning the homestand with a 1-0 result vs. Academy of Art this past Saturday night.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: Dixie State enters Saturday's match vs. Dominican with a 4-3-2 record vs. the Penguins, including a win (1-0 at DUC in 2015) and two draws in the previous three meetings between the two teams.
    Dixie State will take to the pitch vs. NDNU Monday looking for its first-ever victory vs. the Argonauts in 10 tries. DSU is 0-9-1 all-time against the Argos overall, though five of those losses were by one goal. Last season, the Trailblazers got their first-ever point in the series with a 0-0 2OT draw in a match played in Belmont, Calif.

COACHING STAFF: Nyle Ortiz (Dixie State, 2011; 1-0-0 at DSU) was named interim head coach of the DSU men's program on October 19 after serving as an assistant for both DSU's men's and women's programs to begin the season. Prior to this current role he had served as an assistant coach under his father then-DSU head men's coach Danny Ortiz in 2012-13, and was an assistant women's coach at Texas-Permian Basin in 2014.

TRAILBLAZERS PICKED SEVENTH IN PACWEST: Dixie State was picked to finish seventh in the Pacific West Conference preseason coaches' poll released on August 17. Defending conference champion Fresno Pacific was tabbed the 2016 preseason favorite as the Sunbirds collected eight first-place votes and 188 points to headline the poll, while Point Loma (163 points) was selected to finish second, Hawai'i Pacific (154) received two first-place nods in placing third and Notre Dame de Namur (146) got one first-place vote to claim fourth. Azusa Pacific (131), California Baptist (one first-place vote, 131) and DSU (one first-place vote, 128) rounded out the top-half of the poll.
    The Trailblazers also landed two players on the preseason all-PacWest team. Senior netminder Bradley Trella (Chandler, Ariz./Chandler HS) was named PacWest Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year, while he and junior defender Bryan Baugh (Henderson, Nev./Green Valley HS) were voted onto the preseason all-conference team.

WEEK IN REVIEW: Dixie State ran its winning streak to a school-record 11 matches as the Trailblazer posted a 1-0 result vs. Academy of Art last Saturday night at Legend Solar Stadium. Freshman midfielder Angel Estrada (Pasadena, Calif./Pasadena HS) netted his first collegiate game-winning goal at the 4:55 mark of the match, while the Trailblazer defense made that lead hold up as DSU held the Urban Knights to just two shots on goal and eight total shots for the match.

DSU IN THE POLLS: Dixie State received seven votes in this week's NSCAA Division II Coaches Top-25 poll, which was released on Tuesday. In addition, the second official NCAA West Region rankings were released on Wednesday and the Trailblazers moved up one spot to fourth-overall, while California Baptist debuted in the rankings in seventh.

QUICK KICKS: Dixie State extended its school-record winning streak and broke two more school records in the win over AAU last Saturday ... DSU won its program-record 11th match of the year, which broke the previous record of 10 wins set last season ... in addition, senior GK Bradley Trella (Chandler, Ariz./Chandler HS) returned to game action vs. AAU and in the process became DSU's career shutouts leader as he stopped the only two shots he faced on goal to keep the Urban Knights of the scoreboard ... Trella, who posted a school single-season record nine shutout results in 2015, picked up his third shutout win this season and 12th shutout overall (8-0-4) in his two-year career to break the previous Dixie State record of which was previously held by former DSU keeper Tyler Waters (2010-13), who recorded 11 shutouts over his four-year career.
    For the first time in the program's NCAA D-II era, Dixie State has won its first nine PacWest matches ... in 2011, DSU won its first six league matches on its way to a 7-5-0 PacWest finish, while last year the Trailblazers posted a tie in their first PacWest game and then followed it up with five-straight wins en route to a then-program best 8-1-4 league result.
    Entering play this weekend, freshman forward Moises Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS) leads the team in goals (6), GWG (5) and points (16), and is tied for second in assists (4) ... Meanwhile, his older brother, sophomore midfielder Gabby Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS), leads the team in assists (5) and is second in points (13) and t-second in goals (4) ... junior MF Ather Dawood (Tucson, Ariz.) and freshman F Christian Hall (Layton, Utah/Northridge HS) have also found the back of the net four times this season, while three of Hall's four goals have been game-winners.
    Hall broke the program's record for quickest goal in school history in DSU's 1-0 win at PLNU (9/24) ... Hall scored just 37 seconds into the match, which broke the previous school record for quickest goal set back on Oct. 12, 2013, when former DSU player Nadav Elimelich scored just 1:24 into a match at Holy Names ... in all, DSU has tallied five goals in the first two minutes of a match in its D-II era, including Gabby Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS)'s first goal vs. FPU Oct. 1 (1:50) ...  the first instance came on Oct. 30, 2010, when Zac Hales scored a goal at the 1:51 mark of a home match vs. Chaminade, then on Oct. 1, 2011, Alex Lawhun needed just 1:32 to find the back of the net in a home match vs. California Baptist.  
    Junior defender Bryan Baugh (Henderson, Nev./Green Valley HS) dished out his 10th-career assist in the Chaminade match (10/15), which moved him into a tie for first place on DSU's career assists list with former DSU player Tyler Albretsen (2009-12) ... Meanwhile, Gabby Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS)'s five assists this season is tied for second with Baugh on the single-season list, while Moises Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS) and sophomore defender Dominic Damato (Las Vegas, Nev./Shadow Ridge HS) are tied for fourth on the single-season list with four dimes apiece.
    DSU's defense, anchored by Baugh, senior Hunter Ketterer (Heber City, Utah/Wasatch HS), Estrada, Damato and junior Alexi Beiza, have combined to limit opponents to a 11.0 shots and 4.9 SOG through 14 matches this season, while the unit, including Trella and reserve GKs freshman Zach Nielson (West Point, Utah/Northridge HS) and sophomore Eddie Ortiz (Las Vegas, Nev./Cimarron Memorial HS), has allowed only 11 goals in 1260 minutes of game action (0.79 GAA) with seven shutout wins on the year overall.

UP NEXT: Dixie State wraps up the 2016 regular season next weekend at home against Concordia-Irvine on Thursday, Nov. 3, followed by a date vs California Baptist on Saturday, Nov. 5. The CBU match will also serve as "Senior Day" as five DSU seniors will be honored prior to the match.