(MATCH NOTES - PDF)

OPENING TOUCH: After opening the season with seven-straight road matches, Dixie State (5-2-0/1-2-0 RMAC) will finally open its 2018 home schedule this weekend with a pair of crucial RMAC home matches against two of the three conference co-leaders on the pitch at Trailblazer Stadium. DSU opens the brief two-match homestand against No. 13 MSU Denver (6-1-1/4-0-0 RMAC) Friday night at 7:30 p.m., and will play host to Colorado-Colorado Springs (6-1-1/4-0-0 RMAC) Sunday at 12 noon.
    Live stats and streaming video information for both matches can be found HERE.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: This week's matches vs. MSU Denver and UCCS will mark the first time that the Trailblazers have met either opponent on the soccer pitch.

COACHING STAFF: Gerry Lucey (LIU Post, 1994; 5-2-0 at Dixie State; 158-51-21 overall record) is in his first season as Dixie State head coach. Prior to his arrival at DSU, Lucey collected 153 victories over 10 seasons as a head coach at three NCAA Division II women's soccer programs, which included eight NCAA tournament appearances, three NCAA regional championships, and one NCAA Division II national championship won during his tenure at the University of Tampa in 2007.  
    Lucey is joined on the Trailblazer sideline by first year assistant coaches Freddy Delgado (Regis, 1997), and former Dixie State soccer standouts Laura Evans (Dixie State, 2007) and Juli Nield (Dixie State, 2006). 

NKOTB: After 11 years 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 soccer title (2009) over their conference membership and posted a 92-44-5 overall record (.670) in 141 league games. DSU won nine or more PacWest matches in six of those 11 campaigns, including a program-best 13 matches (13-1-0) during its championship run in 2009.

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.
    Colorado-Colorado Springs collected 11 of a possible 14 first-place votes to claim the top spot in the poll with 163 points, while 2017 league runner-up Colorado School of Mines tallied two first-place nods and 153 points to squeak past defending champion Regis, which secured one first place vote and 152 points.
    MSU Denver claimed the fourth spot with 118 points, followed closely by DSU (117 pts) in fifth, Colorado State-Pueblo (115) in sixth, and Colorado Mesa (91 pts) claimed the seventh spot to round out the top-half of the 14-team poll.

LAST TIME OUT: Dixie State wrapped up its road swing with a split of two matches east of the Rocky Mountains. DSU opened the trip with a tough 1-0 setback at Regis last Friday in Denver, but quickly rebounded with a decisive 4-0 result at Black Hills State Sunday for the program's first RMAC win in its first-ever match played in South Dakota.

PLANES, BUSES AND AUTOMOBILES: After living out of a suitcase for the first seven matches of the 2018 regular season, the Trailblazers finally get to unpack and play on the pitch at Trailblazer Stadium this weekend.
    Dixie State logged more 4,500 miles over that stretch, which included two trips to southern California and a round trip to Salt Lake City. Last weekend, the Blazers racked up 2,300-plus travel miles on their trip to Denver to play Regis, then on to Spearfish, S.D., for their match at BHSU.

CLEAN SHEETS: All seven final results this season have come via the shutout, including four ShO wins to open the 2018 campaign, which tied a program record set in 2013 when DSU posted seven shutout results (3-3-1) to begin that season. Dixie State matched that seven-game streak a year later (5-2-0) when it posted shutout results in seven of eight matches to end the 2014 season.
    Overall, the Trailblazers have played to a 76-45-3 (.625) record in 124 total shutout results in their NCAA era, including a program-best 7-1-0 mark in 2009 and a 7-2-0 record last season, and DSU won a program-best eight matches via shutout (8-3-0) in 2007.

2018 TEAM NOTES: Freshman forward Whitley Johns (Gilbert, Ariz./Campo Verde HS) netted her team-high fourth goal of the season at the 9:36 mark of the first half at BHSU last Sunday ... Johns, who also assisted on freshman Ambree Bennett's (South Jordan, Utah/Herriman HS) GWG just 1:55 into the BHSU match, tallied a goal in each of DSU's first three games, including GWGs at CSUSB (8/30) and at CSULA (9/3) ... Johns, who also scored an insurance goal at CSUSM (9/1), is the first player in the program's NCAA era to score in the first three games of a season, and is just the eighth player to score at least one goal in at least three-straight matches overall.
    Sophomore Kelsey Cook (American Fork, Utah/American Fork HS) posted her first career two-goal match in the win at BHSU last Sunday ... Cook, who has three goals and one assist on the year, scored the final two goals (25', 52') in the win ... junior MF Kilee Lamb-Allsop (Smithfield, Utah/Sky View HS), who assisted on Cook's first goal at BHSU, scored her second-career goal (and second GWG) in the win at APU (9/13), which came straight off a corner kick that alluded the Cougar defense early in the 12th-minute ... Lamb-Allsop, along with a stout Blazer defensive unit anchored by senior Nichole Mertz (Springville, Utah/Springville HS) and juniors Alexa Ashton (St. George, Utah/Dixie HS) and Kamie Hunter (Hooper, Utah/Fremont HS), made that one goal stand as DSU combined to limit APU to five total shot attempts - none on goal.
    Junior netminder Felicity Tarr (Tucson, Ariz./Mountain View Marana HS) picked up the shutout win at APU (9/13) and in the process moved into second place on DSU's career shutouts list (8) ... Tarr also played over 81 shutout minutes in the BHSU win to vault into solo second place in career wins (17), and in the process, lowered her DSU career record GAA to 0.80.
    In all, Dixie State has given up only 48 total shots (16 SOG) and only two goals through seven matches this season, including just three total shot attempts at BHSU last Sunday ... junior GK Nicole Rahman (Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes HS) earned three victories in goal in her first three career starts as netminder, including ShO wins at CSU San Bernardino, at CSU San Marcos and at CSULA.
    Overall, Dixie State's defense leads the RMAC and is ranked tenth-nationally in GAA at 0.286, and is t-28th nationally in save percentage (.875).

UP NEXT: Dixie State hits the road once again next weekend with a pair of matches at Colorado Christian on Friday, Oct. 5, followed by a showdown at RMAC co-leader No. 5 Colorado School of Mines on Sunday, Oct. 7.