Dixie State rallied for two goals after halftime to escape with a hard-fought 2-1 double-overtime road victory at Texas-Permian Basin in the 2018 season opener for both sides Thursday afternoon at the UTPB Soccer Field.

The two teams battled back and forth scoreless over the first 40-plus minutes of the match before the Falcons broke through with a Jacob Tellez goal with 1:59 to play in the opening frame to stake UTPB (0-1-0) to a 1-0 advantage.

Dixie State (1-0-0) came out aggressively in the second stanza, peppering the Falcon defense with seven early second-half shot attempts, including a Daniel Brubaker (Hurricane, Utah/Hurricane HS) chance that caromed off the post at the 65:49 mark. Brubaker would come up big 13 minutes later, however, as he crossed a ball high into the box to junior Moises Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS), who headed home the equalizer to knot the match at 1-1 with 10:49 to play in regulation.

After a shot-less first overtime session, Medina had a great look end the match just 19 seconds into the second OT, but Falcon keeper Lucas Gomes managed to make the save to extend the match. However the Trailblazers put the game on ice 33 seconds later when Ricky Nunez (Henderson, Nev./Green Valley HS) settled a loose ball in front of the Falcon net and tucked home the game-winning goal.

Dixie State outshot UTPB 20-8, including a 15-3 edge in the second half and OT periods. Junior netminder Zach Nielson (West Point, Utah/Northridge HS) (W, 1-0-0) stopped four of the five shots he faced on goal to collect the victory.

The Trailblazers will quickly turn around and host Ottawa (AZ) University in their home opener this Saturday night at Trailblazer Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.