(MATCH NOTES)

OPENING TOUCH: Dixie State (5-3-0/3-0-0 PacWest) closes the first half of its 2016 regular season slate this Saturday as the Trailblazers host Pacific West Conference preseason favorite Fresno Pacific (3-1-1/1-1-0 PacWest) inside Legend Solar Stadium. DSU enters Saturday's match riding a season-high five-game winning streak and on top of the PacWest table at 3-0-0 (9 pts), while the Sunbirds will play a match at Notre Dame de Namur on Thursday prior to their arrival to St. George. 

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT: Dixie State is 1-2-0 in its three previous meetings vs. Fresno Pacific, including a 3-0 loss to the Sunbirds in what became a de facto PacWest championship game in the regular season finale last year in Fresno. The Trailblazers' lone win in the series came in 2014 in St. George as DSU posted a 4-1 result on its home pitch. 

COACHING STAFF: Head Coach Tim Busen (Spring Arbor, 1994, 5-3-0 at DSU) is in his first season at the helm of the Trailblazer men's soccer program. Prior to his arrival to St. George, Busen served as head coach at Adams State for six seasons from 2010-15. He coached several All-RMAC selections and numerous RMAC All-Academic honorees during his tenure.
    Busen is joined on the sideline by assistant coach and former DSU player Nyle Ortiz, who will assist both the men's and women's programs this season.

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 opened the 2016 PacWest schedule on fire as the Trailblazers posted three league wins, two of which came on the road, and included a pair of shutout results over the past week. DSU posted road victories at Azusa Pacific (2-1; Sept. 22) and Point Loma (1-0; Sept. 24) before returning home to claim a 1-0 result over Holy Names this past Tuesday night.

HALL EARNS PACWEST FRESHMAN HONOR: Forward Christian Hall (Layton, Utah/Northridge HS) was named Pacific West Conference Freshman of the Week on Monday for his performances last weekend as the Trailblazers picked up two league road victories in southern California. Hall's award marked the second time this season a Trailblazer has earned the league's weekly rookie honor, joining midfielder Jandir Porta (West Valley City, Utah/Hunter HS), who claimed the award back on Sept. 12.
    Hall (6-4; Layton, Utah/Northridge HS) tallied both of the Trailblazers' game-winning goals at Azusa Pacific and Point Loma. He scored his first goal of the trip in the 50th-minute of DSU's 2-1 win at APU last Thursday. Then on Saturday at PLNU, he scored just 37 seconds into the match, the fastest goal scored in DSU program history, and that goal was the difference in Dixie State's 1-0 win over the Sea Lions.
    Hall currently leads the team with three goals on the year, all three of which have been game-winners, including the first goal scored in the Trailblazers' 5-0 vs. University of Mary back on Sept. 11.

QUICK KICKS: For the second time in the program's NCAA D-II era, Dixie State has opened its PacWest slate 3-0-0 ... 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 program-best 8-1-4 league result ... Hall's goal at PLNU 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 four goals in the first two minutes of a match four times in its D-II era, including the first instance 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 forward Ather Dawood (Tucson, Ariz.) scored his second goal of the season in DSU's win at APU ... the Medina Brothers, sophomore Gabby Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS) and freshman Moises Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS), each earned an assist on the two goals vs. APU, while sophomore Dominic Damato (Las Vegas, Nev./Shadow Ridge HS) dished out his co-team high third assist on the GWG at PLNU ... Then vs. HNU, Moises Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS) tallied his first collegiate goal in the win over the Hawks.
    Junior defender Bryan Baugh (Henderson, Nev./Green Valley HS) collected ninth-career assist in the HNU match, which moved him to within two dimes of becoming DSU's career assists leader ... senior netminder Bradley Trella (Chandler, Ariz./Chandler HS) earned his second solo shutout result of the season in the HNU match and he now has 2.5 shutouts on the year ... the shutout win vs. HNU was also Trella's 11th of his career, which moved him into a tie atop Dixie State's career shutouts list with former DSU GK Tyler Waters (2010-13), who had 11 career shutouts in his four-year career ... Trella has surrendered just two goals over his last 475 minutes of play in goal ... entering this week's matches, Dixie State is averaging 13.75 shots/7.0 SOG per outing.

UP NEXT: Dixie State embarks on its final road trip of the 2016 regular season next week as the Trailblazers head out for an eight-day, four-match swing through the Hawaiian Islands. DSU will open the trip with its final match ever vs. BYU-Hawaii on Oct. 8, followed by games at Hawai'i Pacific (Oct. 10), Hawai'i Hilo (Oct. 13) and Chaminade (Oct. 15).