(MATCH NOTES - PDF)

OPENING TOUCH: After a 10-day break, Dixie State (4-0-0/0-0-0 PacWest) opens its final season of Pacific West Conference play with two of four-straight home matches on the pitch at Legend Solar Stadium. The Trailblazers open the stand against Chaminade (1-1-0/0-0-0 PacWest) on Thursday at 7 p.m., followed by a match-up vs. conference newcomer Biola (0-3-1/0-0-0) Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
    Live stats and video information for both matches can be found at HERE.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: Dixie State is 12-0-0 all-time in its series vs. Chaminade, with eight of those 12 victories coming via shutout, and has outscored the Silverswords by a combined 33-4 margin overall.
    DSU is 1-0-1 in its brief series vs. Biola, including a 1-0 road result the last time the two teams met in southern California in 2015 (9/11). The first-ever meeting between the two sides took place in St. George during the 2011 season, with DSU and the Eagles playing a 2-2 double-OT draw (9/27).

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 ran its regular season winning streak to 19-straight matches (including 15-straight to close 2016) with a pair of shutout results in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Trailblazers opened the trip with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Eastern New Mexico on Sept. 9, with the match's lone goal coming late in the 86th-minute off the boot of freshman Tommy Merniez (West Jordan, Utah/Bingham HS). DSU outshot ENMU 14-8, with the Trailblazer defense limiting the Greyhounds to just three shots on goal, which were all stopped by sophomore keeper Zach Nielson (West Point, Utah/Northridge HS) (3-0-0).
    The Trailblazers followed that up with a decisive 5-0 result vs. Colorado-Colorado Springs on Sept. 11, in a match that saw sophomore striker Moises Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS) record Dixie State's third-ever hat trick and break a school single-match record for total points (7; 3G/1A). DSU played a man-up for virtually the entire match after a Mountain Lion player drew a red card on a handball foul in the UCCS penalty area, and the Trailblazers cashed in the opportunity with four second-half goals in a span of 14 minutes to cruise to the win. Dixie State's defensive third held UCCS to six total shots, three on frame, and freshman netminder Levi Lord (Las Vegas, Nev./Palo Verde HS) (1-0-0) made three saves on his way to his first collegiate shutout win in goal.

QUICK KICKS: DSU's five goals at UCCS also tied the school's single match record, as did the Trailblazers' 14 total points (5G/4A) ... DSU has scored five goals in a match in four previous occasions, the last coming a year-to-the-day vs. the University of Mary (9/11/16) in Billings, Mont. ... the Trailblazers also tallied a school-record 14 points in that match.
    Moises Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS) 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) ... Moises also moved into sole possession of second place on DSU's career goals scored (10), GWG (7) and points (28), and is now third in career assists (8).
    Older brother Gabby Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS) collected his second goal of the year (and eighth of his career) vs. UCCS, while sophomore Jandir Porta (West Valley City, Utah/Hunter HS) netted his third career goal vs. the Mountain Lions ... Porta also dished out his team leading second and third assists of the year in both matches in Colorado Springs, including a dime on the Merniez GWG, while senior Ather Dawood (Tucson, Ariz./Palo Verde HS) and junior Dominic Damato (Las Vegas, Nev./Shadow Ridge HS) had assists in the UCCS match.
    Dixie State is 1-for-2 in penalty kick attempts this season, this after not attempting a PK all of last season ... DSU is 13-for-19 all-time in PK attempts in the program's NCAA era and has had at least two PK goals in five of its nine-plus seasons of four-year competition.
    Heading into the weekend, Dixie State is averaging 16.0 shots/8.0 SOG per outing, while the Trailblazer defense is limited opponents to just two total goals and 7.0 shots/2.0 SOG per game.

UP NEXT: Dixie State continues its PacWest homestand next week as the Trailblazers play host to Hawai'i Pacific on Tuesday, Sept. 26, followed by a showdown vs. California Baptist on Saturday, Sept. 30.