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OPENING TOUCH: Dixie State opens its 2017 season this week as the Trailblazers head to Nampa, Idaho, for a pair of matches against Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) opponents. DSU begins the trip Thursday afternoon with a neutral site match vs. Western State Colorado at 1 p.m., followed with a date against host Northwest Nazarene Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. Both matches will be played on the NNU Soccer Field.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: This weekend's matches against both Western State Colorado and Northwest Nazarene will be the first time the Trailblazers have faced either program on the pitch.

COACHING STAFF: Head Coach Kacey Bingham (Arizona State, 2006) begins her fifth season on the Trailblazers sidelines. Bingham has compiled a 39-27-3 overall record at DSU, including a 33-16-1 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 has won 10 or more matches overall.
    Bingham is joined on the sideline by fourth-year assistant coach Abby Johnson, along with first-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 (McCloy) Murdock was voted 2017 PacWest Preseason Player of the Year and garnered preseason all-conference honors.

2017 PREVIEW: Dixie State welcomes back six regular starters for 2017, highlighted by the reigning PacWest Player of the Year in senior forward Darian Murdock (Herriman, Utah/Herriman HS). Murdock, who also earned first team all-PacWest and second team NSCAA all-West region honors, led the conference with 12 goals scored and was second overall in total points (26). She started in all 18 games last season and accounted for nearly half of the DSU's offensive output (27 goals), including five game-winning goals to her credit. Joining Murdock in the offensive third this season is junior college transfer Jamie Iurato (Mesa, Ariz./Heritage Academy), who earned NJCAA First Team All-America honors after she led the nation in goals (48) and finished second-nationally in points (103) as a sophomore at Paradise Valley CC. Iurato, who originally signed at Oklahoma and played one year for the Sooners in 2013, also netted 11 game-winning goals at PVCC in helping lead the Pumas to a 2016 NJCAA national championship.
    On the defensive side, DSU returns nine letter winners who helped lead the Trailblazers to seven shutout wins last year, including five in PacWest play. The unit, anchored by 2016 second team all-PacWest pick senior defender Montana Hadley (Bountiful, Utah/Viewmont HS), along with junior Nichole Mertz (Springville, Utah/Springville HS), and sophomores Kilee Lamb (Smithfield, Utah/Sky View HS) and Bailey Kroll (Meridian, Idaho/Rocky Mountain HS), allowed only 17 goals in 18 matches last season and limited opposing teams to 8.4 shots attempts and 4.4 shots on goal per match.
    In goal, sophomore keeper Felicity Tarr (Tucson, Ariz./Mountain View Marana HS) saw time in 10 matches with three starts as a freshman in 2016 and posted a 4-1-0 record with 12 saves and a 0.65 GAA (4G in 550 minutes). Tarr went 3-1-0 in PacWest play and earned her first collegiate win in goal at Westminster College (9/13). In addition, senior netminder Sarah Beecher (Kaysville, Utah/Davis HS), who redshirted in 2016, will also figure into the goalkeeper mix heading into fall camp.

UP NEXT: Dixie State continues its road swing to begin the 2017 campaign next weekend as the Trailblazers head to Rohnert Park, Calif., for a pair of non-conference matches. DSU opens the trip against host Sonoma State on Thursday, Sept. 7, followed by a date vs. Southern Oregon on Saturday, Sept. 9.