(MATCH NOTES)

OPENING TOUCH: Dixie State (3-5-0/1-2-0 PacWest) will wrap up the first half of its 2016 regular season slate this Saturday night as the Trailblazers host Pacific West Conference leader Fresno Pacific (4-2-0/2-0-0 PacWest) inside Legend Solar Stadium. DSU enters Saturday's match coming off a 1-0 home result vs. Holy Names last Tuesday, 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 owns a 3-0-0 lead in its brief series with FPU, including a 2-1 double-overtime win in Fresno last season, and a 4-1 result the last time the two sides met in St. George in 2014.

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 30-24-3 overall record at DSU, including a 25-14-1 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 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 started PacWest play on a sour note as the Trailblazers dropped both ends of a two-game road swing in southern California vs. the top-two preseason league picks last week. DSU opened the trip with a 2-0 setback at PacWest favorite Azusa Pacific last Thursday, followed by a 2-1 loss at Point Loma on Saturday in San Diego. However the Trailblazers rebounded with a 1-0 victory over Holy Names this past Tuesday in a match that saw DSU hold the Hawks to just two total shot attempts en route to its third shutout win of the year.

QUICK KICKS: All three Dixie State wins have come via shutout, including a 2-0 home result vs. Humboldt State (Sept. 8) and a 1-0 triumph on the road at Westminster College (Sept. 13) prior to Tuesday's result vs. HNU ... senior D/MF Aubri Detmer (Austin, Texas/Lake Travis HS) scored her third-career goal (first GWG) in the win over HNU Tuesday night ... Detmer took a centering free kick from freshman defender Kilee Lamb (Smithfield, Utah/Sky View HS) and fired home a shot from 25-yards out to give the Trailblazers their winning margin ... junior forward Darian McCloy (Herriman, Utah/Herriman HS) has scored a goal in four of her last six matches overall, including DSU's lone tally on the SoCal road trip (at PLNU), and has four of DSU's six goals on the year ... two of McCloy's four 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 seven of DSU's last 11 matches overall, including the final three matches of the 2015 campaign, and the Trailblazers are 11-3-0 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 t-fifth on DSU's career goals (15) list and eighth all-time in points (35) ... 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 Humboldt State ... Gonzalez now has five career goals to her credit, including four tallies in 2014 ... junior defender Montana Hadley (Bountiful, Utah/Viewmont HS) and sophomore defender Nichole Mertz (Springville, Utah/Springville HS) co-lead the team with two assists, while McCloy, Lamb and freshmen Alexa Estridge (St. George, Utah/Dixie HS) and Kamie Hunter (Hooper, Utah/Fremont HS) each have one assist ... freshman keeper Felicity Tarr (Tucson, Ariz./Mountain View Marana HS) has won her last two decisions, including her first career win after a scoreless second half at Westminster College, followed by her first collegiate shutout win in the HNU victory this past Tuesday ... entering this week's matches, Dixie State is averaging 11.2 shots/5.2 SOG per outing.

UP NEXT: Dixie State embarks on its final road trip of the 2016 regular season next week as the Trailblazers heads 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).