(MATCH NOTES)
UCSD Tournament Central
OPENING TOUCH: 2016 Pacific West Conference champion Dixie State (15-3-0/13-0-0) begins its quest for its first national championship this weekend as the Trailblazers travel to San Diego for the 2016 NCAA Division II West Regionals, which will held Nov. 11-13.
    DSU was awarded the West Region's No. 3 seed and will play No. 6-seed Western Washington (9-4-4) on Friday, Nov. 11, at 12 noon (PT), at Triton Soccer Stadium on the campus of UC San Diego. The winner of that match will then advance to play the host and No. 2 seed UCSD (16-2-2) this Sunday, Nov. 13, at 12 noon (PT).
    The Trailblazers enter the tournament as arguably the hottest team in the NCAA Division II ranks as DSU has won 15-straight matches, including a perfect run through the PacWest table en route to the program's first-ever conference title and NCAA tourney bid.
    Rounding out the West Region field is No. 1 seed Simon Fraser (14-1-2), which will host a three-team regional in Seattle, Wash. (at Seattle Pacific), that will feature No. 4 seed Sonoma State (10-4-5) and No. 5 seed Cal Poly Pomona (12-5-2). Sonoma State and CPP will square off this Thursday, Nov. 10, and the winner will play SFU on Saturday, Nov. 12.
    The NCAA tournament third round and quarterfinals will be held on campus sites Nov. 17-20. The 2016 NCAA Division II College Cup will be played at the Children's Mercy Victory Field, located at the Swope Soccer Village in Kansas City, Mo. The national semifinals will take place on Thursday, Dec. 1, and the NCAA Division II national championship game will be played on Saturday, Dec. 3.
      Complete coverage of this week's NCAA regional action at UCSD can be found online at www.ucsdtritons.com.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: Friday's match vs. WWU will be the third-ever meeting between the Trailblazers and Vikings on the pitch. Western Washington has won each of the first two matches, including a 2-1 result (10/11/11) in St. George and a 1-0 win (9/9/12) in Bellingham.
    Dixie State and UCSD have met just once on the soccer field, that coming in the 2014 season in San Diego (9/11/14) when the Tritons claimed a 2-1 victory.

COACHING STAFF: Nyle Ortiz (Dixie State, 2011; 3-0-0 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.

DSU IN THE POLLS: For the first time in program history Dixie State is ranked nationally in the NSCAA Division II Coaches Top-25 poll. DSU made its debut in the poll on Tuesday as the Trailblazers check in at No. 19. In all, the top three West Region seeds are ranked in this week's poll, including top-seed Simon Fraser (No. 3) and UCSD (No. 9).

TRAILBLAZERS NET 11 PACWEST POSTSEASON AWARDS: On the heels of the most successful season in program history, eight members of the 2016 Pacific West Champion Dixie State men's soccer team were honored by the conference on Wednesday.
    Senior goalkeeper Bradley Trella (Chandler, Ariz./Chandler HS) repeated as PacWest Goalkeeper of the Year, while junior Bryan Baugh (Henderson, Nev./Green Valley HS) was named Conference Defender of the Year and forward Moises Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS) was tabbed as PacWest Freshman of the Year. Trella, Baugh and Moises Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS) were also named first team all-conference, joining fellow first team picks in sophomore midfielder Gabby Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS) and freshman defender Angel Estrada (Pasadena, Calif./Pasadena HS). In addition, senior defender Hunter Ketterer (Heber City, Utah/Wasatch HS), sophomore midfielder Dominic Damato (Las Vegas, Nev./Shadow Ridge HS) and freshman forward Christian Hall (Layton, Utah/Northridge HS) were each named to the league's third team.

QUICK KICKS: Dixie State, which clinched its first PacWest title last Thursday, won a school-record 15 matches, all consecutively to close out the regular season ... DSU also became just the second PacWest school to finish a conference season unbeaten and untied, joining former league member Grand Canyon, which went 6-0-0 in the league's first season in 2006 ... Dixie State's 13 conference wins also eclipsed GCU's previous record of 12 wins set in 2010 and matched by GCU in 2012.
    Dixie State is currently ranked in the top-40 nationally in six statistical categories, including eighth-overall in save percentage (.839), 12th in win percentage (.833), 18th in goals against average (0.77), 24th in shots on goal/game (7.72), t-27th in shutout percentage (0.44) and t-40th in assists (31) ... in addition, DSU is ranked t-55th in goals scored (36) and t-56th in scoring offense (2.00 gpg).
    Thirteen different players have combined to score Dixie State's school-record 36 goals this season, while 11 different players have accounted for DSU's program-record 31 assists ... DSU's 103 team points also eclipsed the previous school-record of 74 set back in 2010.
    Freshman forward Moises Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS) and older brother, sophomore MF Gabby Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS), have combined to have a boot on 22 of DSU's 36 goals on the year ... Moises leads the team with six goals and a school-record tying six assists, while Gabby has netted four goals and has matched Moises with six dimes ... the duo has also combined for seven of DSU's 15 GWGs.
    Freshman forward Christian Hall (Layton, Utah/Northridge HS) is second on the team with five goals, including four game-winners, while junior MF Ather Dawood (Tucson, Ariz.) has found the back of the net four times, and junior MF Sean Jenne (Las Vegas, Nev./Centennial HS) and freshman MF Angel Estrada (Pasadena, Calif./Pasadena HS) have each scored three goals.
    Junior defender Bryan Baugh (Henderson, Nev./Green Valley HS) and sophomore MF Dominic Damato (Las Vegas, Nev./Shadow Ridge HS) have each collected five assists, while Baugh became DSU's career assists leader (13) in the win over Concordia-Irvine (11/3).  
    DSU's defense, anchored by Baugh, senior Hunter Ketterer (Heber City, Utah/Wasatch HS), Estrada, Damato, freshman Blake Damato (Las Vegas, Nev./Shadow Ridge HS), and junior Alexi Beiza, have combined to limit opponents to a 10.8 shots and 4.9 SOG through 16 matches this season, while the unit, including senior GK Bradley Trella (Chandler, Ariz./Chandler HS) and reserve GKs freshman Zach Nielson (West Point, Utah/Northridge HS) and sophomore Eddie Ortiz (Las Vegas, Nev./Cimarron Memorial HS), has allowed only 14 goals in nearly 1,626 minutes of game action (0.77 GAA) with eight shutout wins on the year overall.
    Trella currently leads the PacWest in goals against average (0.89, #32 in NCAA) and save percentage (.810) ... he posted four regular season shutout wins, all of which came in league play, and he is now DSU's career shutouts leader with 13 (9-0-4) ... a two-time PacWest Defender of the Week honoree (Oct. 31/Nov. 7), Trella tied his own single-season record for wins with 10 and he is also DSU's career leader in GAA and second in wins.

UP NEXT: The 2016 NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Tournament continues with third round and quarterfinal action played on campus sites Nov. 17-20.