(MATCH NOTES - PDF)

OPENING TOUCH: Dixie State (10-6-0/8-3-0 PacWest) looks to remain within striking distance for its second Pacific West Conference title as the Trailblazers play their final 2016 two regular season matches this week at Legend Solar Stadium.  
    The fourth-place Trailblazers will play host to fifth-place Concordia-Irvine (10-2-4/6-2-3 PacWest) on Thursday, followed by the regular-season finale vs. second-place California Baptist (9-4-3/8-1-2 PacWest) on Saturday. Kick-off for both matches will be at 7 p.m. Saturday's match will also serve as "Senior Day" as goalkeeper Angelica Ciucci (Stockholm, Sweden/Thorildsplans Gymnasium), forward Erica Gonzalez (Avondale, Ariz./Westview HS), midfielders Megan Spencer (Provo, Utah/Springville HS) and Alexis Torres (Tucson, Ariz./Palo Verde HS), and defenders Paris Despain (Peoria, Ariz./Liberty HS), Aubri Detmer (Austin, Texas/Lake Travis HS) and Danica Hansen (Hyde Park, Utah/Sky View HS) will each play in their final home match.
    DSU enters the week having won eight of its last nine matches, including a 2-1-0 mark on its current five-match homestand.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: Thursday's match vs. CUI will be the second-ever meeting between the Trailblazers and Eagles on the pitch and will be the first match between the two sides in St. George. Last season CUI claimed a 3-0 result over DSU (10/24/15) in a match played in Irvine, Calif.
    Dixie State is 1-8-0 all-time vs. CBU, which includes the Trailblazers' first-ever victory in the series against the Lancers in a 1-0 overtime win in Riverside last season (10/22/15).

COACHING STAFF: Head Coach Kacey Bingham (Arizona State, 2006) is in her fourth season on the Trailblazers bench as Dixie State enters its second decade of NCAA competition. Bingham has compiled a 37-25-3 overall record at DSU, including a 30-14-1 mark in Pacific West Conference play. Last season Bingham led DSU to an 11-6-0 overall record, the most wins in her brief tenure as head coach, which included a 9-4-0 PacWest mark and a fourth-place league finish.
    Bingham is joined on the sideline by fourth-year assistant Rielee Reed, third-year assistant Abby Johnson and former DSU men's soccer player and current men's interim head coach Nyle Ortiz.

STILL PLENTY TO PLAY FOR: Dixie State enters the final weekend of the 2016 regular season with a chance to finish in the top-three in the PacWest table and has an outside shot at the conference title. In fact the top-four teams in the PacWest are separated by just five points overall, with Azusa Pacific (9-1-2)  leading the way with 29 points. CBU is second with 26 points, followed by Point Loma (8-3-1) in third with 25 points and DSU in fourth with 24 points.

10 WINS AND COUNTING: Dixie State picked up its 10th win of the season in its 2-1 home win over Notre Dame de Namur last Monday. The victory marked the seventh time in the program's 11-year NCAA Division II-era that DSU has won 10 or more games in a season. The school's single-season record for wins is 14 set in 2007 and tied in 2009, which was the year the Storm made their first, and only, NCAA Tournament appearance.

WEEK IN REVIEW: Dixie State enters the final weekend coming off a split a pair of home matches last week. The Trailblazers saw their season-high seven match winning streak halted by Dominican University in a 1-0 loss last Saturday night in a match played at nearby Dixie High School. DSU then bounced back with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Notre Dame de Namur this past Monday afternoon.

QUICK KICKS: Seven of Dixie State's 10 victories on the season have come via shutout, including four of the last six wins overall ... junior forward Darian McCloy (Herriman, Utah/Herriman HS) has scored a goal in eight of her last 14 matches and has 11 (t-fifth on DSU's single-season list) of DSU's 25 goals on the year ... four of McCloy's 11 goals in this season have been game winners ... McCloy's hat trick at HPU (10/10) was the 11th in Dixie State's NCAA Division II era and is the first one recorded since former DSU player Jennifer Mason achieved the feat at Chaminade on Oct. 6, 2014 ... McCloy's seven points (3G, 1A) in the HPU match tied her for the third-most in DSU's NCAA era and she is the first player to score at least seven points in a match since Mason did it at Notre Dame de Namur back in the 2012 season (9/15/12) ... dating back to last season, McCloy has scored a goal in 11 of DSU's last 19 matches overall, including the final three matches of the 2015 campaign, and the Trailblazers are 15-3-0 all-time when McCloy scores at least one goal in her two-plus seasons in a DSU kit ... McCloy's current stretch has vaulted her into solo fourth on DSU's career goals (22) list, t-fourth in career assists (6), and fifth all-time in points (50) ... McCloy also gets the job done in the classroom as she was named to the College Sports Information Director Association's (CoSIDA) Academic District 8 team and she will advance on to the organization's All-America ballot, which will be voted on later this month.
    Senior midfielder Alexis Torres (Tucson, Ariz./Palo Verde HS) has scored all four of her goals this season over her past seven starts, including DSU's first goal vs. NDNU on Monday ... Torres also tallied three goals on the team's Hawai'i trip, including two game-winning goals in the opener at BYU-H (10/8) and at Hawai'i Hilo (10/13) ... senior MF Megan Spencer (Provo, Utah/Springville HS) also scored three goals on DSU's Hawai'i road trip, including her first multi-goal match of the season with a pair of first-half goals in the finale at Chaminade (10/15), while she also tallied a goal in the HPU (10/10) match  ... Spencer now has 14 career goals, which is good for solo ninth on DSU's career goals scored list, and she is ranked ninth all-time with 37 career points ...  ... in addition, junior defenders Montana Tanner and Shelby Christensen (Bountiful, Utah/Woods Cross HS) each tallied their first collegiate goals on DSU's Hawaiian road swing.
    Senior forward Erica Gonzalez (Avondale, Ariz./Westview HS) netted her third-career GWG with a rocket blast from 30-yards out with 5:08 remaining vs. NDNU last Monday ... Gonzalez, who has six goals and five assists in her two-year  career, also tallied a goal in DSU's home opener vs. Humboldt State (9/8) and assisted on the game-winning goal vs. Fresno Pacific (10/01) ... freshman forward Kamie Hunter (Hooper, Utah/Fremont HS) collected her team-leading fourth assist on Torres' goal vs. NDNU ... Hunter also recorded her first collegiate goal in the win over Academy of Art (10/22).
    Dixie State's defense has surrendered just 15 goals through 16 matches this season, while the GK tandem of senior Angelica Ciucci (Stockholm, Sweden/Thorildsplans Gymnasium) (1.10 GAA) and freshman Felicity Tarr (Tucson, Ariz./Mountain View Marana HS) (0.59 GAA) has combined for a team 0.94 GAA entering play this week ... Tarr ran her season record to 4-0-0 in goal in DSU's win vs. NDNU, while Ciucci won her sixth decision in the AAU match (10/22) ... Dixie State is averaging 14.4 shots/7.8 SOG per outing, while the defense has limited the opposition to 8.2 shots/4.2 SOG.

UP NEXT: The 2016 NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Selection announcement will take place on Monday, Nov. 7. For more information, visit www.ncaa.com.