Dixie State clinched its first-ever Pacific West Conference men's soccer championship Thursday afternoon as the Trailblazers defeated second-place Concordia-Irvine, 3-1, at Legend Solar Stadium. In the process, DSU picked up its 14
th-straight victory overall to improve to 14-3-0, 12-0-0 in conference play.
After the two teams battled back and forth through a scoreless first half, the Trailblazers erupted for three goals in the span of eight minutes to bolt out to a commanding 3-0 lead. Dixie State broke through at the 56:08 mark when senior
Kris Evans (Draper, Utah/Alta HS) scored his second goal in as many matches as he headed home a powerful throw-in from junior
Bryan Baugh (Henderson, Nev./Green Valley HS) to stake DSU to a 1-0 lead. For Baugh, DSU's career assists leader, it was his fourth dime of the season and 12
th of his career.
The Trailblazers struck again just over three minutes later when freshman
Christian Hall (Layton, Utah/Northridge HS) headed in a wide-open chance off a left-wing cross from freshman
Blake Damato (Las Vegas, Nev./Shadow Ridge HS) to pad the DSU advantage. Then at the 64:04 mark, sophomore
Dominic Damato (Las Vegas, Nev./Shadow Ridge HS) took a give-and-go center ball from freshman
Moises Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS) and tucked home his second goal of the year to give Dixie State its three-goal cushion.
Concordia-Irvine (10-5-2/9-3-0 PacWest) got one of the goals back on its only shot on frame in the match with 14:31 to play. However that would be as close as the Eagles would get as the DSU defense held CUI at bay the rest of the way en route to its championship-clinching result.
Dixie State outshot CUI 20-7, including a 9-1 edge on goal. Hall led DSU's offense with four shots, three on frame.
The Trailblazers, who are currently ranked fourth in the NCAA West Region, will close out the 2016 regular season this Saturday afternoon vs. PacWest rival California Baptist (No. 5 in the West Region) at Legend Solar Stadium beginning at 4:30 p.m. Saturday's match will also serve as "Senior Day" as five Trailblazer seniors will be honored in a pregame ceremony prior to kickoff.Â
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