(MATCH NOTES)

OPENING TOUCH: Dixie State opens Pacific West Conference play this week as the Trailblazers head to southern California for a pair of matches against the two preseason league favorites. DSU (2-3-0/0-0-0) will open the trip with a match at Azusa Pacific (2-2-1/0-0-0 PacWest) this Thursday night, Sept. 22, at 7:30 p.m. (PT), followed by a date at Point Loma (2-1-2/0-0-0) on Saturday, Sept. 24, at 2 p.m. (PT), in San Diego. 

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: Dixie State enters Thursday's match at APU in search of win No. 1 vs. the Cougars as Azusa Pacific has won each of the previous five meetings, including a 4-1 result last season in St. George.  
    DSU is 2-2-0 all-time against Point Loma on the pitch, though the Trailblazers have lost two-straight overall vs. the Sea Lions after winning the first two matches in the series. Last year in St. George, PLNU blanked DSU 3-0 at Legend Solar Stadium.

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 29-22-3 overall record at DSU, including a 24-12-1 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 Nyle Ortiz, who is assisting both the DSU men's and women's programs.

TRAILBLAZERS PICKED FIFTH IN PACWEST: Dixie State was picked to finish fifth in the annual Pacific West Conference preseason coaches' poll released on August 18. Azusa Pacific and defending champion Point Loma each collected six first-place votes, but APU edged PLNU by two points, 184-182, to claim the top spot on the poll. Concordia University Irvine was tabbed for third place with 162 points, while California Baptist received one first place vote to finish fourth with 157 points, followed by DSU (141 points) in fifth, Fresno Pacific (125) in sixth and Hawai'i Pacific (108) in seventh to round out the top-half of the poll.
    Dixie State did not land a player on the PacWest preseason team or on either of the preseason position player of the year lists.

WEEK IN REVIEW: Dixie State has won two of its last three regular season outings after starting the season 0-2-0. The Trailblazers blanked Humboldt State in DSU's home opener, 2-0, back on Sept. 8, before dropping a 3-1 result at home to Sonoma State Sept. 10. DSU would rebound from the Sonoma loss with hard-fought 1-0 road triumph at Westminster College in Salt Lake City Sept. 13. DSU also played an exhibition friendly at Southern Utah last Saturday and held a 2-1 second-half lead, but the Thunderbirds struck for two goals over the final 15 minutes of the match to claim a 3-2 decision.

QUICK KICKS: Junior forward Darian McCloy (Herriman, Utah/Herriman HS) has scored a goal in three-straight matches overall, four-straight if you count a goal scored in exhibition play at SUU last Saturday, and has three of DSU's four goals on the year ... two of McCloy's three goals in this current stretch have been game winners, including DSU's first goal vs. Humboldt State and the lone tally at Westminster ... dating back to last season, McCloy has scored a goal in six of DSU's last eight matches overall, including the final three matches of the 2015 campaign, and the Trailblazers are 11-2-0 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 eighth on DSU's career goals (14) list and ninth all-time in points (33) ... senior forward Erica Gonzalez (Avondale, Ariz./Westview HS) has accounted for DSU's other goal on the year, which came on a McCloy assist in Dixie's 2-0 win over HSU ... Gonzalez now has five career goals to her credit, including four tallies in 2014 ... sophomore defender Nichole Mertz (Springville, Utah/Springville HS) leads the team with two assists, while McCloy, junior defender Montana Hadley (Bountiful, Utah/Viewmont HS) and freshmen Alexa Estridge (St. George, Utah/Dixie HS) and Kamie Hunter (Hooper, Utah/Fremont HS) each have one assist ... senior netminder Angelica Ciucci (Stockholm, Sweden/Thorildsplans Gymnasium) earned her first career shutout win in goal vs. HSU, while freshman keeper Felicity Tarr (Tucson, Ariz./Mountain View Marana HS) played a scoreless second half at Westminster to collect her first collegiate decision ... entering this week's matches, Dixie State is averaging 10.4 shots/5.2 SOG per outing ... DSU is 75-35-5 (.674) all-time in PacWest play dating back to the program's first season in the league in 2007.

UP NEXT: Dixie State returns home to Legend Solar Stadium for two PacWest matches next week as the Trailblazers host Holy Names on Tuesday, Sept. 27, and Fresno Pacific on Saturday, Oct. 1.