(MATCH NOTES - PDF)

OPENING TOUCH: Dixie State (0-0-0/0-0-0 RMAC) opens the 2018 season this weekend with a quick trip to the Lone Star State, followed by its regular-season debut at Trailblazer Stadium.  
    DSU squares off against Texas-Permian Basin (0-0-0) on Thursday at 1 p.m. (CT), at the UTPB Soccer Field in Odessa, Texas. The Blazers then turn around and come home to host Ottawa (AZ) University Saturday night at 7 p.m.
    Live stats information for both matches can be found at HERE.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT: Both matches this week will the first-ever meetings between Dixie State and both UTPB and Ottawa on the soccer pitch.

COACHING STAFF: Head Coach Jonny Broadhead (Colorado State-Pueblo, 2004; 12-5-0 overall) begins his second season on the Trailblazer sideline after guiding DSU to a 12-win season last year, which included a fifth-place finish (8-5-0) in its final season of Pacific West Conference play. 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 prior to the start of the 2016 season.
    Before 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 again this season by former DSU standout netminder Bradley Trella, who will serve as a student assistant coach and work with the goalkeepers.

SO...WE'RE NEW HERE...: After 10 years playing as a member of the Pacific West Conference, Dixie State embarks on its first season as full members of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in 2018.
    The Trailblazers won one PacWest men's soccer title (2016) over their conference membership and posted a 57-61-12 overall record (.484) in 130 league games. DSU won eight or more PacWest matches in each of its final three league campaigns, including a perfect 13-0-0 march through the PacWest during its championship season in 2016.
    The 13 league wins that year were both DSU and PacWest single-season records, while the Blazers became just the second PacWest school to finish a conference season unbeaten and untied, joining former league member Grand Canyon, which went 6-0-0 in the league's first season in 2006.

TRAILBLAZERS PICKED FIFTH IN THE RMAC IN 2018: Dixie State was voted to finish fifth by the RMAC coaches in the annual preseason poll released by the league on August 15.
    Defending RMAC champion Colorado School of Mines was the overwhelming choice to defend its title as the Orediggers received nine of a possible 12 first-place votes to top the poll with 118 points. Colorado Mesa claimed two first place votes to finish second with 102 points, followed by Fort Lewis (one first-place vote, 96 pts) in third, Regis (81 pts) in fourth, DSU (79 pts) in fifth, and MSU-Denver (78 pts) in sixth to round out the top-half of the 12-team poll.
    In addition, DSU's top-returning goal scorer, junior forward Moises Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS), was the Trailblazers' lone representative on the RMAC's preseason all-conference team.

2018 PREVIEW: Dixie State returns six starters and 12 letter winners from last season's 12-5-0 squad, highlighted by an RMAC preseason all-conference pick in junior forward Moises Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS) (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS). Medina, who enters this season tied atop DSU's career assists list (14), enjoyed a record-breaking season in 2017 as he set new DSU single-season records for goals scored (12), assists (8) and points (32) on his way to first team all-PacWest and D2CCA West Region honors.
    Four of Medina's 12 goals last year were game-winning scores, and he became just the second player in program history to record two hat tricks in one season, doing so vs. Colorado-Colorado Springs (9/11) and at home against Point Loma (10/24). Medina finished the 2017 campaign on a tear as he scored at least one goal in five of his final seven matches of the year, and he tallied at least one point in 11 of 17 matches played overall.
    In all, the Trailblazers scored 36 goals last season and return 72 percent of that offensive output in 2018, including junior midfielder Jandir Porta (West Valley City, Utah/Hunter HS) (West Valley City, Utah/Hunter HS), who finished second behind Medina with six goals and six assists. Additionally, junior forward Christian Hall (Layton, Utah/Northridge HS) (Layton, Utah/Northridge HS) is back after a three-goal sophomore campaign in 2017, while senior MF Dominic Damato (Las Vegas, Nev./Shadow Ridge HS) (Las Vegas, Nev./Shadow Ridge HS) and junior forward Gustavo Ortega (Las Vegas, Nev./Cimarron Memorial HS) (Las Vegas, Nev./Cimarron Memorial HS) netted two goals apiece a season ago.
    Between the pipes, junior netminder Zach Nielson (West Point, Utah/Northridge HS) (West Point, Utah/Northridge HS) returns after a stellar 2017 season which saw him earn PacWest co-Goalkeeper of the Year honors. Nielson started in 10 of 15 matches played in goal and posted a 9-5-0 record, with four of those nine victories coming via shutout, including three PacWest shutout results. He finished with a 1.42 GAA and 52 saves overall, while his nine wins in goal were good for second on DSU's single season wins list.

UP NEXT: Dixie State heads north on Interstate-15 next weekend for the first two of three-straight matches played at Westminster College in Salt Lake City. DSU will renew its rivalry with former PacWest foe Notre Dame de Namur on Thursday, Sept. 6, followed by a match-up against Texas A&M-International on Saturday, Sept. 8.