(MATCH NOTES - PDF)

OPENING TOUCH: Dixie State (11-5-0/7-5-0 PacWest) will take the field for the final time as a member of the Pacific West Conference this Saturday, Nov. 4, when the Trailblazers close the 2017 season against Azusa Pacific (6-9-1/6-5-1 PacWest) at Legend Solar Stadium. Kick-off is slated for 8 p.m. Live stats and video information for Saturday's match can be found HERE.
    Saturday's match will also serve as "Senior Day" as four seniors will suit up for the final time in a Trailblazers' kit, including forward Ather Dawood (Tucson, Ariz./Palo Verde HS), midfielders Alexiz Beiza (Salt Lake City, Utah/West Jordan HS) and Sean Jenne (Las Vegas, Nev./Centennial HS), and defender Bryan Baugh (Henderson, Nev./Green Valley HS), who will each play in their final home match.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT: Dixie State enters Saturday's match trailing 1-4-1 in the overall series vs. the Cougars, though the Trailblazers managed to break through with a 2-1 road result last season in Azusa (9/22/16).

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, 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 closed its final PacWest road trip on a down note as the Trailblazers dropped two of three matches last week in California. DSU opened the trip with a dramatic 2-1 come-from-behind win over Holy Names on two Moises Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS) goals in the final 9:22 of regulation time in a match played in Fresno on Oct. 24.
    However DSU came up on the short end of a 3-1 decision at Fresno Pacific (10/26) and  then wrapped up the trip with a 4-3 loss at Concordia-Irvine last Saturday as the Eagles scored two goals in the final 5:10 of the match to claim the victory. 

PACWEST FINALE: As mentioned above, Dixie State will be playing in its final match as a member of the PacWest Conference Saturday vs. Azusa Pacific. In its 10 years of PacWest competition, DSU has played to a 57-61-12 record (.484) and has won one league championship, which came last season when the Trailblazers set a PacWest record with 13 league wins (13-0-0 PacWest) on their way to the title and the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament bid. DSU became just the second PacWest school to finish a conference season unbeaten and untied, joining former league member Grand Canyon, which went 6-0-0 in the league's first season in 2006.

QUICK KICKS: Sophomore forward Moises Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS) became Dixie State's single-season leader in goals (12) and assists (7) on the Trailblazers' California road swing last week ... Medina, who is also DSU's single-season leader in points (31), scored three of DSU's six goals on the trip, including two in the final nine-plus minutes in the win over HNU (10/24) to tie the goals record ... Medina then moved into solo first place on both lists in the loss at CUI when he scored one goal and assisted on another against the Eagles ... Medina's GWG vs. HNU was his fourth of the season, one off of his career-high five last set year, and his ninth-overall, which moved him to within two GWG of tying former DSU forward Jordan Roylance (2009-12) who netted 11 GWGs in his four-year career ... Medina is also second in DSU history in career goals scored (18), GWG, assists (13) and points (49).
    Sophomore midfielder Jandir Porta (West Valley City, Utah/Hunter HS) assisted on both Medina goals vs. HNU, giving him six on the year overall, which vaulted him to t-second on DSU's single-season list and one dime behind Medina for the team lead ... Additionally, Porta has netted five goals this season and he enters Saturday's finale t-fifth on DSU's single-season (16) points list and t-sixth in career points (21).
    Senior forward Ather Dawood (Tucson, Ariz./Palo Verde HS) collected a goal and an assist on the trip to move into sixth-place on DSU's career points list (21) with seven goals and seven assists in nearly two seasons in a DSU kit ... sophomore forward Christian Hall (Layton, Utah/Northridge HS) opened the scoring in the CUI match with his second goal of the year and seventh of his career, which pulled him into a tie for seventh on DSU's career goals list ... freshman midfielder Mitch Wilkinson (St. George, Utah/Dixie HS) netted his first collegiate goal in the FPU match.
    Heading into Saturday's finale, Dixie State has outscored its opponents by a 31-22 count and is averaging 13.3 shots/6.2 SOG per outing, while the Trailblazer defense has limited opponents to 12.8 shots/5.1 SOG per game.

UP NEXT: The 2017 NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Selection announcement will take place on Monday, Nov. 6. For more information, visit www.ncaa.com.