Dixie State fell victim to two late Concordia-Irvine goals in the final five minutes of regulation time as the Trailblazers dropped a heartbreaking 4-3 road result Saturday afternoon at Eagles Field.
DSU (11-4-0/7-4-0 PacWest) erased an early 1-0 deficit midway through the 26th-minute when sophomore Christian Hall (Layton, Utah/Northridge HS) snuck a header just under the Eagle crossbar to square the match at 1-1. Then just 45 seconds into the second half, fellow sophomore Moises Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS) scampered down the field and blasted a shot into the bottom right corner of the CUI goal to give his side a 2-1 advantage. Medina's goal, his 12th of the season, also vaulted him to the top spot on DSU's single-season goals scored list.
However that lead would be short-lived as CUI (7-4-2/6-2-1 PacWest) squared the match at 2-2 12 minutes later when Ari Claro deflected a shot off a DSU defender and into the net. Dixie State countered again at the 72:39 mark when Medina played a ball into senior Ather Dawood (Tucson, Ariz./Palo Verde HS), who finished the chance inside the top left corner of the frame for his third goal of the year to put DSU back on top at 3-2.
Concordia-Irvine would reclaim its lead on goals set up by corner kicks, the first coming off the boot of Claro to Eric Torres, which tied the score at 3-3 with 5:10 remaining. The Eagles then struck at the 87:18 mark when a Michael Oakson corner found John Letona for the eventual game-winner.
DSU had two chances for the equalizer in the final minute, but a Hall shot was stopped by CUI keeper Saul Ocampo, and Medina blasted an attempt that sailed wide with 20 seconds to go as the Eagles held on for the result.
Dixie State lost despite outshooting CUI by an 18-17 count, though both teams would finish with nine shots on frame.
Dixie State will wrap up the 2017 season at home next Saturday vs. Azusa Pacific beginning at 8 p.m.
