(MATCH NOTES - PDF)

OPENING TOUCH: Dixie State (7-0-0/3-0-0 PacWest) closes its four-match homestand this Saturday night as the Trailblazers welcome in No. 10 California Baptist (6-0-1/2-0-0 PacWest) to Legend Solar Stadium in the final regular season meeting between the two sides as members of the Pacific West Conference. First touch is set for 7 p.m.
    Live stats and video information for the match can be found HERE.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT: Dixie State is 2-4-1 all-time vs. CBU and has lost four of its last six to the Lancers overall after winning the first-ever meeting between the two schools on the pitch in 2011 (2-1) in St. George. Last year the Trailblazers snapped an 0-4-1 skid vs. Lancers with a 2-1 result in 2016 regular season finale in Legend Solar Stadium.

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 22-straight matches, including 18-consecutive PacWest victories, with three wins to open its four-match homestand. The Trailblazers opened the homestand with consecutive 1-0 results vs. Chaminade (9/21) and Biola (9/23), which was followed by a thrilling 2-1 double-overtime victory over Hawai'i Pacific this past Tuesday night.

NIELSON NAMED PACWEST DEFENDER OF THE WEEK: Sophomore goalkeeper Zach Nielson (West Point, Utah/Northridge HS) was named PacWest Men's Soccer Defender of the Week Monday for his stellar performance in the Trailblazers' two league wins last week.
    Nielson posted two shutout results in goal to help lead DSU to a 2-0-0 start in PacWest play. He faced only one shot on goal in DSU's 1-0 win vs. Chaminade last Thursday, but it was on a penalty kick chance that he turned away just 3:54 into the match.
    He then made four saves in a 1-0 triumph over Biola this past Saturday, three of which came in the game's final 15 minutes after DSU was forced to play a man down after a DSU player red card ejection.
    Nielson (6-0-0, 21 saves), who stopped a career-high seven shots in the HPU win last Tuesday, enters Saturday's match vs. CBU second in the country at the NCAA Division II level in save percentage (.913) and sixth goals against average (0.35 GAA) and as he has surrendered only two goals in 510 minutes of action.

QUICK KICKS: DSU tied school single match records with five goals and 14 total points in a 5-0 win at Colorado-Colorado Springs (9/11) ... DSU has scored five goals in a match on 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.
    Sophomore forward Moises Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS) posted his first-career hat trick in the UCCS match, and in the process, 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) ... Medina (4G/3A in 2017) has moved into sole possession of second place on DSU's career goals scored (10), GWG (7) and points (29) lists, and is now third in career assists (9).
    Older brother Gabby Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS) collected his third goal of the year (ninth of his career) and his fourth-career GWG in the 2-1 2OT result vs. HPU on Tuesday ... Gabby's game-winning tally came from a two-touch assist from Moises and senior Ather Dawood (Tucson, Ariz./Palo Verde HS) with 7:12 to play in the stanza ... speaking of Dawood, the senior forward netted his own GWG in the Biola victory and collected an assist on DSU's first goal vs. HPU.
    Freshman Angel Estrada (Pasadena, Calif./Pasadena HS) also recorded a pair of assists during the homestand, the first coming on a Jandir Porta (West Valley City, Utah/Hunter HS) GWG vs. Chaminade (9/21), and picked up another dime in the HPU match when he and Dawood set up a Bryan Baugh (Henderson, Nev./Green Valley HS) second-half goal ... Baugh, who is DSU's career assists leader with 13, tallied his third career goal, which moved him into a tie for sixth place with teammate Sean Jenne (Las Vegas, Nev./Centennial HS) on DSU's career points list (19).
    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 13.1 shots/6.0 SOG per outing, while the Trailblazer defense has limited opponents to just three total goals and 9.3 shots/3.8 SOG per game ... DSU is currently ranked sixth-nationally in save percentage (.889) and eighth in team GAA (.419).

UP NEXT: Dixie State heads back out on the road for a four-match PacWest Bay Area swing, beginning with a match at Notre Dame de Namur on Oct. 7. DSU will also play at Dominican (Oct. 9) and at Academy of Art (Oct. 12), before closing the trip at Holy Names on Oct. 14.