(MATCH NOTES - PDF)

OPENING TOUCH: Dixie State (7-1-0/3-1-0 PacWest) heads back out on the road this weekend as the Trailblazers embark on a four-match PacWest Bay Area swing, beginning with a match at Notre Dame de Namur (7-1-2/3-1-1 PacWest) this Saturday, Oct. 7, at 3 p.m. (PT) in Belmont, Calif. DSU will then head across the Golden Gate Bridge to San Rafael to square off against Dominican (3-5-0/0-4-0) on Monday, Oct. 9 at 2:30 p.m. (PT).
    Live stats and video information for both matches can be found HERE.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: Dixie State is 1-9-1 all-time in 11 previous matches vs. NDNU, though the Trailblazers finally broke through in the series last season with a 2-1 overtime home result at Legend Solar Stadium on Halloween. The last time the two sides met in NorCal, DSU collected its first-ever point vs. the Argonauts in a 0-0 2OT draw (10/15/15).
    Dixie State enters Monday's match vs. Dominican with a 5-3-2 record vs. the Penguins, including two wins and two draws in the previous four meetings between the two sides. DSU posted a 1-0 result last season in St. George (10/29/16), which came on the heels of a 1-0 road win in San Rafael during the 2015 campaign (10/2/15).

COACHING STAFF: Head Coach Jonny Broadhead (Colorado State-Pueblo, 2004) is in his first season at the helm of the Trailblazer men's soccer program. Broadhead came to DSU from Utah Valley University, where he served as a volunteer assistant coach for two years before being elevated to a full-time assistant position before to the start of the 2016 season. Prior to his time at UVU, Broadhead served a two-year stint as assistant coach at Colorado Mesa with former DSU head coach Josh Pittman. The Mavericks went a combined 20-12-8 during his two seasons in Grand Junction, including a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament championship in 2013.
    Broadhead is joined on the sideline by former DSU standout netminder Bradley Trella (Chandler, Ariz./Chandler HS), who will serve as a student assistant coach and work with the goalkeepers.

TRAILBLAZERS PICKED THIRD IN PACWEST: Defending PacWest champion Dixie State was picked to finish third in the league's 2017 preseason coaches' poll released Aug. 16. The Trailblazers, who are in their final season of PacWest play, received five of 14 possible first place vote and landed four players on the preseason all-PacWest team.
    California Baptist was tabbed as the 2017 preseason favorite as the Lancers also collected five first place votes to finish with 173 points, while Concordia-Irvine garnered two first place votes to finish second in the poll with 166 points. DSU came in third with 156 points, followed by Point Loma (148 points) in fourth, Notre Dame de Namur (132) and Azusa Pacific (one first place vote; 132 points) tied for fifth, and Fresno Pacific (130 points) rounded out the top-half of the 14-team poll.
    In addition, senior defender Bryan Baugh (Henderson, Nev./Green Valley HS) was named PacWest Preseason Defender of the Year, while he and sophomore forward Moises Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS), junior midfielder Gabby Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS), and sophomore defender Angel Estrada (Pasadena, Calif./Pasadena HS) were voted onto the preseason all-conference team.

WEEK IN REVIEW: Dixie State saw its 22-game regular season winning streak, which included 16-straight PacWest results, snapped in a 2-1 double-OT home loss to No. 10 California Baptist last Saturday night at Legend Solar Stadium.
    After a scoreless first half battle, the Lancers broke through early in the 67th-minute as Aidan Apodaca netted a shot from 20-yards out to give his side a 1-0 advantage.
    Dixie State would respond with the equalizer just over six minutes later when sophomore Jandir Porta (West Valley City, Utah/Hunter HS) played a ball from the left wing to fellow sophomore Moises Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS), who blasted a ball into the lower right corner of the goal for his team-leading fifth goal of the year to square the match at 1-1.
    DSU just missed a chance to possibly win the match with 2:12 remaining in regulation when junior Gabby Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS) took a feed from younger brother Moises and flicked a ball that rolled just to the outside of the right post.
    The Trailblazers survived the first overtime period that saw CBU pepper the DSU defense with six shots and five corner kick attempts, including a Daniel Westholm shot that hit the post. Then four minutes into the second OT session, the Lancers netted the game winner when Abe Placito headed home a shot set up on a throw in that was originally deflected away by sophomore DSU keeper Zach Nielson (West Point, Utah/Northridge HS).

TIME TO START A NEW STREAK: The Trailblazers' amazing run began last season after a 1-0 loss at Montana State Billings (9/9/16). DSU rebounded from that setback with 15-straight regular season victories, which featured a perfect 13-0-0 sweep in PacWest play, resulting in the program's first-ever conference title and NCAA tournament berth. DSU then opened this season winners of seven-straight, including three PacWest victories, before Saturday's night result.

QUICK KICKS: Sophomore forward Moises Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS) posted his first-career hat trick in the UCCS win (9/11), and in the process, joined former DSU striker Jordan Roylance (2009-12) as the only two players to record a hat trick in the program's NCAA era ... Roylance accomplished the feat twice as a freshman in 2009 vs. Chaminade (10/8) and at BYU-Hawaii (10/20) ... Medina (5G/3A in 2017) has moved into sole possession of second place on DSU's career goals scored (11), GWG (7) and points (31) lists, and is now third in career assists (9).
    Older brother Gabby Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS) collected his third goal of the year (ninth of his career) and his fourth-career GWG in the 2-1 2OT result vs. HPU (9/26) ... Gabby's game-winning tally came from a two-touch assist from Moises and senior Ather Dawood (Tucson, Ariz./Palo Verde HS) with 7:12 to play in the stanza ... speaking of Dawood, the senior forward netted his own GWG in the Biola victory (9/23) and collected an assist on DSU's first goal vs. HPU.
    Freshman Angel Estrada (Pasadena, Calif./Pasadena HS) also recorded a pair of assists during the homestand, the first coming on a Jandir Porta (West Valley City, Utah/Hunter HS) GWG vs. Chaminade (9/21), and picked up another dime in the HPU match when he and Dawood set up a Bryan Baugh (Henderson, Nev./Green Valley HS) second-half goal ... Baugh, who is DSU's career assists leader with 13, tallied his third career goal, which moved him into a tie for sixth place with teammate Sean Jenne (Las Vegas, Nev./Centennial HS) on DSU's career points list (19) ... Porta's assist, the fifth of his career, in the CBU match also moved him into t-ninth on DSU's career assists list.
    Heading into the weekend, Dixie State is averaging 12.5 shots/5.5 SOG per outing, while the Trailblazer defense has limited opponents to just five total goals and 12.0 shots/4.5 SOG per game ... DSU is currently ranked 11th-nationally in save percentage (.861) and 16th in team GAA (.601) ... sophomore keeper Zach Nielson (West Point, Utah/Northridge HS) moved into the fourth place on DSU's career saves list (42) after he stopped a career-high tying seven shots in the CBU match.

UP NEXT: Dixie State continues its Bay Area trip with a match at Academy of Art on Thursday, Oct. 12, before closing the trip at Holy Names on Saturday, Oct. 14.