(MATCH NOTES - PDF)

OPENING TOUCH: Defending Pacific West Conference champion Dixie State (0-0-0/0-0-0 PacWest) officially opens the 2017 season this weekend as the Trailblazers head north to Salt Lake City for a pair of non-conference matches against Great Northwest Athletic Conference opponents.
    DSU will kick off the campaign Thursday at 12 noon against Northwest Nazarene (0-0-0), followed by a date Saturday afternoon vs. Montana State Billings (0-0-0) at 1:30 p.m. Both matches will be played at Dumke Field on the Westminster College campus.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: Dixie State is 5-1-1 all-time vs. Northwest Nazarene, which includes a 3-1 result last season at Legend Solar Stadium. In fact, four of the five Trailblazer victories in the series have come on the home pitch. DSU won the first four meetings in the series overall, while a 2013 match-up ended in a 2-2 draw on the road in Nampa, Idaho, and the Crusaders broke through with a 3-1 result the last time the two teams met in Salt Lake City in 2014.
    Dixie State enters Saturday's match against MSUB looking for its first win vs. the Yellowjackets in the series. MSUB is 3-0-0 all-time vs. DSU, including neutral site wins in 2008 (4-3) and 2010 (1-0), and a 1-0 decision in Billings last season.

COACHING STAFF: Head Coach Jonny Broadhead (Colorado State-Pueblo, 2004) begins 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.

2017 RETURNEES: Dixie State returns eight starters and 21 letter winners, along with five redshirts, from last year's PacWest title winning side, including 2016 conference Freshman of the Year in sophomore Moises Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS) and league Defender of the Year in senior Bryan Baugh (Henderson, Nev./Green Valley HS).
    Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS), who also earned first team all-PacWest and D2CCA second team all-West region honors, led Dixie State in goals (6) and points (18), and co-led in assists (6). All six of his goals, including a school record five game-winning goals, came in PacWest play, while 16 of his 18 total points were scored in league matches. His six assists tied DSU's single-season record and he scored at least one point in 10 of DSU's 19 matches overall.
    Meanwhile Baugh (Henderson, Nev./Green Valley HS), who himself was named first team all-PacWest and D2CCA all-region, and earned D2CCA honorable mention All-America honors, started in all 19 matches this season He anchored a defensive unit that allowed just 17 goals in 1,723-plus minutes played (0.89 GAA - 24th-nationally) and helped lead DSU to eight shutout wins overall. On the offensive side, Baugh tallied his second career goal in a win vs. Fresno Pacific (10/1) and dished out five assists on the year, which moved him atop DSU's career assists list (13).
    In addition, the Trailblazers welcomes back four more all-PacWest honorees, including first team picks in junior midfielder Gabby Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS) and sophomore defender Angel Estrada (Pasadena, Calif./Pasadena HS), and third team selections in junior midfielder Dominic Damato (Las Vegas, Nev./Shadow Ridge HS) and sophomore forward Christian Hall (Layton, Utah/Northridge HS).
    Gabby Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS) (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS) tied his brother Moises for the school's single season record for assists (6) and was second in points (14) and third in goals scored (4), which included a pair of game-winning scores. Gabby Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS) also tallied at least one point in seven of 18 matches played.
    Estrada (Pasadena, Calif./Pasadena HS) started in 18 of 19 matches played tallied four goals and one assist, and he was a key contributor in the defensive third. Meanwhile Damato (Las Vegas, Nev./Shadow Ridge HS) contributed two goals and dished out five assists in 19 starts last season, all while playing a vital role on the defensive side. Hall (Layton, Utah/Northridge HS) wound up second on the team in goals scored (5) and game-winning goals (4) last season. Three of his four game-winning tallies came in PacWest play, including his fifth goal of the year in DSU's PacWest championship-clinching win vs. Concordia-Irvine (11/3).
    As a team last season DSU netted a school-record 38 goals and the Trailblazers return 84 percent of that offensive output in 2017, including senior forward Ather Dawood (Tucson, Ariz./Palo Verde HS) (4G/2A; Tucson, Ariz./Yavapai CC) and senior MF Sean Jenne (Las Vegas, Nev./Centennial HS) (3G/1A; Las Vegas, Nev./Centennial HS).
    Between the pipes, sophomore netminder Zach Nielson (West Point, Utah/Northridge HS) (West Point, Utah/Northridge HS) is ready to fill the void left by departing senior, and now student assistant coach Bradley Trella (Chandler, Ariz./Chandler HS), who shattered nearly every DSU keeper record in his two seasons in goal. Nielson was a solid complement in goal in 2016 as he saw time in six matches with four starts as a freshman. He posted a 5-0-0 record (all in PacWest play) with one solo shutout win, 16 saves and a 0.26 GAA (1G allowed in 341+ minutes).

UP NEXT: DSU continues its current road-swing to open the 2017 season next weekend as the Trailblazers head Colorado Springs for a pair of matches. DSU opens the trip against Eastern New Mexico on Saturday, Sept. 9, and will play the Colorado-Colorado Springs on Monday, Sept. 11.