(MATCH NOTES)

OPENING TOUCH: Dixie State (6-2-0/2-1-0 PacWest) closes its five-match homestand this Saturday afternoon as the Trailblazers welcome in PacWest rival California Baptist (4-3-0/2-0-0 PacWest) to Legend Solar Stadium in the final regular season meeting between the two teams as members of the conference. Kick off is set for 4:30 p.m.
    Live stats and video information for the match can be found HERE.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT: Dixie State is 2-8-0 all-time vs. CBU, though the Trailblazers have won two-straight in the series, including a thrilling 2-1 overtime win in last year's season finale at Legend Solar Stadium (11/5/16). DSU's first-ever victory in the series with the Lancers also came in overtime in a 1-0 result in Riverside (10/22/15).

COACHING STAFF: Head Coach Kacey Bingham (Arizona State, 2006) is in her fifth season on the Trailblazers sidelines. Bingham has compiled a 45-29-3 overall record at DSU, including a 35-17-1 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 began its final season of PacWest play by winning two of three home matches on its home turf. The Trailblazers rolled past Chaminade by a 5-1 count to open league play on Sept. 21, which was followed by a 2-0 shutout win over conference newcomer Biola last Saturday. However DSU just missed picking up at least one point to remain unbeaten in the PacWest table as Hawai'i Pacific netted a game-winning goal with just two seconds to play in double-overtime to slip past the Trailblazers, 3-2, this past Tuesday night.

MURDOCK AND KROLL EARN PACWEST WEEKLY HONORS: Senior forward Darian Murdock (Herriman, Utah/Herriman HS) and sophomore defender Bailey Kroll (Meridian, Idaho/Rocky Mountain HS) were named PacWest Player and Defender of the Week, respectively, for their performances in the Trailblazers' two league wins last week.
    Murdock earned her second player of the week honors (also on 9/4) after she recorded her second hat trick of the season and third of her career in DSU's 5-1 victory over Chaminade. Her first goal of the night also turned into her third game-winning goal of the year, which ranks her eighth-nationally. In addition, she enters this week as the PacWest leader and ranked seventh in the country at the NCAA Division II level in goals scored (8), 10th-nationally in total points (18) and 12th in goals per match (1.00).
    Kroll helped anchor a DSU defense that combined to allow just one goal and 18 total shot attempts (10 on goal) in DSU's two wins last week vs. Chaminade and Biola. In addition, she netted her second goal of the season on a header with under 10 minutes to in the Biola victory.

QUICK KICKS: Murdock's third career hat trick has moved her into exclusive company as she is just the third DSU player in the program's NCAA era 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 (31), GWG (10) and points (69).
    Junior forward Jamie Iurato (Mesa, Ariz./Heritage Academy) also got into the goal scoring act vs. Chaminade with her first two-goal match in a Trailblazer uniform ... Iurato wasted little time getting DSU on the board as she scored the first of her two opening half goals on a Brooklyn Vogelsberg (American Fork, Utah/American Fork HS) center pass and booted home a goal just 1:50 into the match ... senior defender Montana Hadley (Bountiful, Utah/Viewmont HS) tallied four total points in DSU's three matches last week, including an assist on Murdock's GWG vs. Chaminade, while she scored a GWG of her own in the win over Biola ... Hadley also collected an assist on DSU's first goal vs. HPU, which moved her into sixth-place on DSU's career assists list (11) ... freshman Jill Bennett (Salt Lake City, Utah/East HS) and sophomore Alexa Estridge (St. George, Utah/Dixie HS) each netted their first collegiate goals in the HPU match ... Bennett's goal was scored just 8:42 into the match, while Estridge's goal tied the match with 5:41 to play in regulation.
    Senior Tana Singley (Farmington, Utah/Viewmont HS) currently leads all of NCAA D-II in assists with seven through eight matches, including an assist in the Biola win and a school single-game record tying four dimes in DSU's 8-2 win over Westminster (9/15), which helped her earn PacWest Player of the Week honors.
    Sophomore netminder Felicity Tarr (Tucson, Ariz./Mountain View Marana HS) (3-1-0) recorded her fourth and fifth wins of the season (and ninth of her career) in the Chaminade/Biola results, which moved her into sixth on DSU's career wins list ... Tarr has also played enough minutes in goal (min. 1,000) to vault all the way to the top of the program's career GAA list at 0.62 as she has allowed only eight total goals in 1,155 minutes (18 total matches played).
    DSU set a single game record with seven first half goals vs. Westminster (9/15), which 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.
    Entering Saturday's match vs. CBU, the Trailblazer offense leads all of Division II in assists (29) and is ranked second overall in assists/match (3.63 apg), sixth in points (81), t-10th in the country in goals scored (26) and t-12th in scoring offense (3.25 gpg) ... Dixie State is averaging 20.1 shots/10.2 SOG per game, while the Trailblazer defense has surrendered just seven goals in eight matches (0.85 GAA) and has held opponents to 9.2 shots/4.8 SOG per game.

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.