(MATCH NOTES - PDF)

OPENING TOUCH: Dixie State (1-1-0/0-0-0 RMAC) returns to action this weekend as the Trailblazers head up the I-15 to Salt Lake City for a pair of neutral-site matches played at Westminster College (Dumke Field).   
    DSU begins the trip with a familiar opponent in former Pacific West Conference foe Notre Dame de Namur (1-1-0) on Thursday at 12 noon, followed by a Saturday date vs. Texas A&M-International (0-0-1) beginning at 11 a.m.
    Live stats information for both matches can be found at HERE.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: Dixie State is 1-9-1 all-time in 11 previous matches vs. NDNU, though the Trailblazers are 1-1-1 in their last three matches vs. the Argonauts. DSU broke through with its first win in the series with a 2-1 overtime home result in 2016, however the Argos avenged that loss with a 2-0 win last season in Belmont, Calif. (10/7/17).
    Meanwhile, Saturday's match vs. TAMU-I will be the first-ever meeting between the Blazers and Dustdevils on the soccer pitch.

COACHING STAFF: Head Coach Jonny Broadhead (Colorado State-Pueblo, 2004; 13-6-0 overall) is in 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.

WEEK IN REVIEW: Dixie State is coming off a tough split of two season-opening matches last weekend. The Trailblazers kicked off the 2018 campaign with a thrilling 2-1 double-OT road victory at Texas-Permian Basin on Aug. 30, but were stunned at home by Ottawa (AZ) University in the home opener last Saturday night at Trailblazer Stadium.

QUICK KICKS: Dixie State improved to 4-6-1 all-time in season-opening matches with its win at UTPB on Aug. 30 ... DSU has now won three of its last four season-openers overall, while the UTPB win was the first road victory to begin a season ... Two of the Blazers' previous three season-opening wins came at home, while another came in a neutral-site match played at Westminster last year vs. Northwest Nazarene (2-1; 8/31/17).
    Junior forward Moises Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS) picked up right where he left off last year as he netted DSU's first goal of the 2018 season at UTPB, which tied the game at 1-1 at the 79:14 mark of the match ...Medina, who broke DSU's single-season goals record last season with 12, now has 19 career goals to his credit (#2 all-time at DSU), and he enters this weekend one assist (14) and nine points (52) shy of becoming DSU's career leader in those two statistical categories.
    Junior defender Ricky Nunez (Henderson, Nev./Green Valley HS) quickly made a name for himself in his DSU debut as he netted the GWG just 52 seconds into the second OT at UTPB ... freshman forward Daniel Brubaker (Hurricane, Utah/Hurricane HS) collected his first collegiate point on the Medina goal at UTPB and he led DSU with three attempts (2 SOG) vs. Ottawa ... junior GK Zach Nielson (West Point, Utah/Northridge HS) earned his 15 career victory in goal in the opener at UTPB.

UP NEXT: Dixie State will make its RMAC debut next week, beginning with a return trip to SLC to face Westminster College on Friday, Sept. 14. The Blazers will then make the short hop over to Denver to play at MSU Denver on Sunday, Sept. 16.