(MATCH NOTES - PDF)

OPENING TOUCH: Dixie State (4-1-0/0-0-0 PacWest) continues its five-match homestand this week as the Trailblazers begin their final season of Pacific West Conference play with two matches at Legend Solar Stadium. The Trailblazers begin the week with a match-up vs. Chaminade (1-2-0/0-0-0 PacWest) on Thursday at 4:30 p.m., before welcoming conference newcomer Biola (4-0-0/0-0-0) to St. George on Saturday at 10 a.m.
    Live stats and video information for both matches can be found HERE.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: Dixie State is 14-0-0 all-time in its series vs. Chaminade, with nine of those 14 victories coming via shutout, including a 5-0 result last season on the Islands. DSU has outscored the Silverswords by a combined 61-8 margin overall in the series.
    Saturday's match vs. Biola will be the first-ever meeting between the Trailblazers and Eagles on the pitch.

COACHING STAFF: Head Coach Kacey Bingham (Arizona State, 2006) is in her fifth season on the Trailblazers sidelines. Bingham has compiled a 43-28-3 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 had won 10 or more matches overall.
    Bingham is joined on the sideline by fourth-year assistant coach Abby Johnson, along with first-year 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 Murdock (Herriman, Utah/Herriman HS) was voted 2017 PacWest Preseason Player of the Year and garnered preseason all-conference honors.

WEEK IN REVIEW: Dixie State wrapped up its 2017 non-conference slate with a record-breaking performance in an 8-2 result vs. in-state foe Westminster College last Friday. The Trailblazers netted a school record seven first-half goals, including six goals in a span of 14 minutes, as DSU cruised to its fourth victory of the season.

SINGLEY NAMED PACWEST PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Senior forward Tana Singley (Farmington, Utah/Viewmont HS) was named PacWest Player of the Week on Monday after her record-tying efforts in DSU's win over Westminster.
    Singley scored one goal and tied a DSU single-match record with four assists, including dimes on three of Dixie State's single-match record seven first-half goals vs. the Griffins. She also accounted for one of Dixie State's first period goals and collected her record-tying fourth assist in the second half. Singley's four assists tied her with former DSU player Shannon Larsen, who collected four assists in a 4-0 DSU win over Grand Canyon on Oct. 30, 2009.

QUICK KICKS: DSU's seven first half goals vs. Westminster bested the previous record of six, which was first set against Westminster in the final game of the 2006 season (W, 9-0; 10/28/06), and tied 2007 in a 10-2 victory over Northwest Christian College (9/7) in a match played, coincidentally, at Westminster College ... the eight total goals scored were also the fourth-most in a single match in DSU's NCAA-era.
    Seven different Trailblazers accounted for the eight goals vs. Westminster ... along with Singley's tally, freshman Tori Page (Centerville, Utah/Viewmont HS) netted her third and fourth goals of the season, while senior Darian Murdock (Herriman, Utah/Herriman HS) was credited with her team-leading fifth goal of the year and ninth game-winning goal of her career ... freshman Brooklyn Vogelsberg (American Fork, Utah/American Fork HS) (3), sophomore Bailey Kroll (Meridian, Idaho/Rocky Mountain HS) (1) and junior Taylor Claiborne (Peoria, Ariz./Raymond S. Kellis HS) (1) also scored goals in the match.
    Junior Jamie Iurato (Mesa, Ariz./Heritage Academy) got the goal-scoring parade going at the 5:12 mark of the match when she converted a penalty kick after drawing a foul inside the Griffin penalty area ... Iurato also collected two first half assists on the Vogelsberg and Murdock goals ... Iurato's PK conversion was the first DSU PK kick attempt and conversion over a span of 23-plus matches ... former DSU player Jasmine Arollo converted the last PK chance in a 3-1 home win over Chaminade on Oct. 31, 2015 ... DSU is 14-of-19 all-time in PK attempts in the program's NCAA era.
    Murdock recorded her second career hat trick in the opener vs. Western State Colorado (8/31), which moved her into even more exclusive company as she became just the third DSU player to score at least three goals in a match on multiple occasions ... former DSU player Jennifer Mason (2011-14) achieved the feat a program-best four times in her four-year career, while Mikayla Wilkes (2006-09) posted a pair of four-goal games and had a three-goal match to her credit in her four seasons in a DSU kit ... In all, six players in the program's NCAA-era have posted hat tricks, including Kaisa (Goodman) Rogers in 2012, and Erika Mouritsen and Wendy Stratford in 2008 ... Murdock currently stands third in DSU's four-year era in goals scored (28), GWG (9) and points (63).
    Sophomore netminder Felicity Tarr (Tucson, Ariz./Mountain View Marana HS) (3-1-0) recorded her third win of the season (and seventh of her career) after posting a scoreless first half in goal vs. Westminster ... Tarr stopped both SOG she faced to lower her season GAA to 0.25 in 360 minutes of play ... entering this Friday's match, Dixie State is averaging 15.8 shots/8.8 SOG per game, while the Trailblazer defense has surrendered just three goals in five matches and has held opponents to 8.6 shots/3.8 SOG per game.

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