(MATCH NOTES - PDF)

OPENING TOUCH: Dixie State (9-3-0/5-2-0 PacWest) returns home to Legend Solar Stadium for a pair of important Pacific West Conference matches as the Trailblazers look to climb up the conference table with three weeks left in the regular season. The Trailblazers open play against Hawai'i Hilo (6-5-1/3-5-1 PacWest) this Thursday at 4:30 p.m., followed with a date against Point Loma (6-5-1/5-3-0 PacWest) on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
    Live stats and video information for both matches can be found HERE.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: Dixie State 12-2-0 all-time against Hawai'i Hilo and has posted shutout results in each of the past three matches, including a 2-0 win last season in Hilo (10/13/16), and a 3-0 triumph in St. George (10/10) in 2015.
    DSU is 2-3-0 all-time against Point Loma on the pitch and will enter Saturday's match looking to snap a three-game losing streak vs. the Sea Lions after winning the first two matches in the series.

COACHING STAFF: Head Coach Kacey Bingham (Arizona State, 2006) is in her fifth season on the Trailblazers sidelines. Bingham has compiled a 48-30-3 overall record at DSU, including a 38-18-1 mark in Pacific West Conference play. Last season Bingham led DSU to an 11-7-0 overall record (9-4-0 PacWest/T3rd), which tied for the most wins in her brief tenure as head coach, and marked the third-straight season DSU had won 10 or more matches overall.
    Bingham is joined on the sideline by fourth-year assistant coach Abby Johnson, along with first-year assistants Erin Dierickx and Bryce Ross.

TRAILBLAZERS PICKED FIFTH IN PACWEST: Heading into its final season of Pacific West Conference play, Dixie State was picked to finish fifth in the league's annual women's soccer preseason coaches' poll released on Aug. 15.
    Defending PacWest champion Azusa Pacific was the overwhelming choice to repeat as the Cougars received 10 out of a possible 14 first-place votes in topping the poll with 189 points. California Baptist, which is also in its final season of PacWest membership before its move to the NCAA Division I ranks, placed second in the poll with 169 points.
    Concordia-Irvine received one of the other four first place votes to finish third in the poll with 160 points, followed in fourth by Point Loma, which collected three first place nods and 152 points. DSU (144) checked in fifth, while PacWest newcomer Biola (114 points) and Fresno Pacific (113 points) rounded out the top-half of the poll in sixth and seventh place, respectively.
    Dixie State did land a major preseason award as senior forward Darian Murdock (Herriman, Utah/Herriman HS) was voted 2017 PacWest Preseason Player of the Year and garnered preseason all-conference honors.

WEEK IN REVIEW: Dixie State returns home after a perfect 3-0-0 road swing through the Bay Area last week, during which DSU outscored its three opponents by a combined 11-1 count. The Trailblazers opened the trip with a 4-0 victory at Notre Dame de Namur (10/7), followed by a 2-1 result vs. Dominican (10/10) and a convincing 5-0 triumph at Academy of Art (10/12). Due to the tragic wildfires that continue to burn across northern California, particularly around the Bay Area in Sonoma and Napa counties, DSU had its final match of the trip at Holy Names postponed due to poor air quality, while the DUC match was played at NDNU and the AAU match was relocated to San Jose State's CEFCU Stadium.
    The Dixie State/Holy Names match has been rescheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 24 (time TBA), and will be played on the Fresno Pacific campus.

MURDOCK'S HAT TRICK CLINCHES PACWEST POW HAT TRICK: After her record-setting performances in the Bay Area, senior forward Darian Murdock (Herriman, Utah/Herriman HS) was named PacWest Player of the Week for the third time this season on Monday.  
    Murdock (5-4; Herriman, Utah/Herriman HS), who earned player of the week honors this past Sept. 4 and Sept. 25, had her boot on six of DSU's seven total goals on the week, scoring five on her own and assisting on another. She tallied both goals in the Trailblazers' 2-1 win at Dominican (10/10), then went off for her school record third hat trick of the year (and fourth of her career) in DSU's 5-0 win at Academy of Art (10/12).
    In addition to her hat trick vs. AAU, Murdock also collected one assist and tallied her record sixth game-winning goal of the year, which eclipsed her previous mark of five set last season and padded her school career record total to 14 game-winners overall. She also became just the second player in the program's NCAA-era to post four career hat tricks.
    Murdock scored seven of DSU's 11 goals on the Bay Area road trip overall to push her season total to 15 overall, which ranks her t-fourth in the nation and is the second-most in program history, one shy of tying the DSU single-season record of 16 set by Mikala Wilkes in 2007. In addition, Murdock is ranked third-nationally in GWG and total points (34).

QUICK KICKS: Murdock was not the only Trailblazer to break a record on the trip as fellow senior Tana Singley (Farmington, Utah/Viewmont HS) became DSU's single-season assist leader after collecting a pair of dimes in the NDNU and Dominican wins ... Singley's nine assists on the year eclipses the previous record of eight set by former DSU striker Jasmine Arollo in both the 2014 and 2015 seasons ... Singley, who also broke DSU's single-match assist record with four vs. Westminster (9/15), enters play this week ranked t-third in the NCAA D-II ranks in assists with nine through 12 matches
    Singley was also one of five Trailblazers to score goals on the NorCal trip as sophomore Capri Goldsmith (Encinitas, Calif./La Costa Canyon HS) and freshmen Jill Bennett (Salt Lake City, Utah/East HS) and Tori Page (Centerville, Utah/Viewmont HS) each found the back of the net ... Goldsmith's goal, her first collegiate score, along with Page's fifth goal of the year, came in the AAU match, while Bennett's tally was scored in the NDNU win ... Bennett and Page also collected assists on the trip, while fellow freshman Brooklyn Vogelsberg (American Fork, Utah/American Fork HS) was credited with an assist in both the NDNU and AAU wins.  
    Senior defender Montana Hadley (Bountiful, Utah/Viewmont HS) has tallied seven total points in DSU's last seven matches, including an assist on the Murdock GWG at NDNU, while she scored a GWG of her own in the win over Biola (9/23) ... Hadley's two dimes on the trip moved her into a tie for fourth place on DSU's career assist list (14).
    Sophomore netminder Felicity Tarr (Tucson, Ariz./Mountain View Marana HS) (8-3-0), allowed only one goal in 270 minutes of play on the NorCal trip to move fifth place on DSU's career wins list (12) ... Tarr has also played enough minutes in goal (min. 1,000) to vault all the way to the top of the program's career GAA list at 0.77 as she has allowed only 13 total goals in 1,515 minutes (22 total matches played) ... DSU's defense played its most dominant game of the season in the AAU win as the Trailblazers surrendered only four total shot attempts (none on goal) over the 90 minutes ... in fact, DSU gave up only 25 shot attempts, including nine on frame, the entire trip.
    Entering play this week, the Trailblazer offense is ranked t-13th in the country in goals scored (38), fourth overall in assists (27; 3.86 apg) and points per match (9.83), and t-10th in scoring (3.17 gpg) ... Dixie State is averaging 19.2 shots/10.1 SOG per game, while the Trailblazer defense has surrendered 12 goals in 12 matches (0.98 GAA) and has held opponents to 10.0 shots/5.1 SOG per game.

UP NEXT: Dixie State closes out its 2017 regular season road slate with three more matches in California. In addition to the HNU make-up match, the Trailblazers will play at Fresno Pacific on Thursday, Oct. 26, before wrapping up the road trip at Concordia-Irvine on Saturday, Oct. 28.