(MATCH NOTES - PDF)

OPENING TOUCH: Dixie State (5-3-3/3-2-2 RMAC) heads out on a crucial RMAC road trip this weekend as the Trailblazers look to climb back into the top-four of the conference table with three weeks to go in the 2019 regular season. The Trailblazers open the trip this Friday in Alamosa, Colo., for a date at Adams State (3-7-0/1-6-0 RMAC) beginning at 12 noon, before traveling to Durango, Colo., to take on Fort Lewis (3-5-2/2-3-2 RMAC) on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. Live stats and streaming video information for both matches can be found HERE.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: Dixie State is 2-0-0 all-time against Adams State, with both victories coming via shutout, including a 4-0 result last season in Trailblazer Stadium (10/12/18). DSU also claimed a 3-0 non-conference result in its only visit to Alamosa during the program's NCAA Division II debut season in 2006 (10/11/06).
    On the flip side, Dixie State is 1-3-0 in its series vs. Fort Lewis, though the Trailblazers did break through with a 3-0 home victory in RMAC play last season (10/14/18). Prior to that match, the two sides had not met since 2011 when FLC claimed a 3-1 neutral-site triumph (9/10/11), while the Skyhawks also posted shutout wins in 2006 (1-0; 10/13/06) and 2007 (1-0; 10/1/07).

COACHING STAFF: Steve Golas (Coe College, 1998; 5-3-3 at Dixie State/36-49-15 overall record) is in his first season as Dixie State head coach. Golas brings to the Trailblazer program more than 20 years of collegiate coaching experience, most recently serving as assistant women's soccer coach at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for four seasons from 2015-19. While at Milwaukee, he helped lead the Panthers to a 56-10-11 overall record, four Horizon League championships and one NCAA Tournament appearance (2018).
    Prior to his arrival at Milwaukee, Coach Golas had collegiate coaching stops at Texas A&M-Texarkana, Illinois College, William Penn, Angelo State, Lewis & Clark and Millikin University. Golas is joined on the Trailblazer sideline by first year assistant coach Paul Kimbrough (United States Sports Academy, 2011), and second year assistants and former Dixie State soccer standouts Laura Evans (Dixie State, 2007) and Juli Nield (Dixie State, 2006). 

TRAILBLAZERS PICKED THIRD IN THE RMAC IN 2019: Dixie State was voted to finish third in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference women's soccer preseason coaches' poll released on August 13.
    Defending RMAC champion Colorado School of Mines was the consensus choice to defend its crown as the Orediggers received 13 of the possible 14 first place votes to claim the top spot in the poll with 169 points. UCCS collected the other first place vote and tallied 151 points to finish second, followed by DSU in third with 129 points, MSU Denver (122 pts) in fourth, Regis (120 pts) in fifth, Westminster College (114 pts) in sixth, and CSU-Pueblo (91 pts) claimed the seventh spot to round out the top-half of the 14-team poll.

LAST SEASON IN THE RMAC: After joining the RMAC in 2018, the 2019 season will mark the second and final season the Trailblazers will be a competing member of the conference. In 2020, Dixie State will begin its transition to NCAA Division I status and will become a new member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). 

LAST TIME OUT: Dixie State settled for a split of two home matches last weekend on the pitch at Trailblazer Stadium. DSU opened the weekend with a convincing 5-1 result over Colorado Christian last Friday night, but found the goals hard to come by in a hard-fought 1-0 loss to current No. 14 Colorado School of Mines this past Sunday. After battling the Orediggers to a scoreless stalemate through the first 68 minutes of play, CSM tucked in the lone goal of the match at the 68:19 mark and held on for the victory. 

2019 TEAM NOTES: DSU's loss to Mines on Sunday snapped the program's 10-match home unbeaten streak (9-1-1), though the Blazers have won 11 of their last 14 home matches overall since the start of the 2018 season ... Dixie State's five-goal outburst vs. CCU marked the third time this season that the Trailblazers had scored four or more goals in a match, with all three of those occasions coming in home wins ... DSU opened the year with six goals vs. Cal State San Bernardino (6-1; 9/5) and the Blazers tallied four more goals in a shutout result vs. Black Hills State (4-0; 9/29).
    Junior MF Kelsey Cook scored twice and collected her team-high sixth assist to help lead DSU to the win over CCU last Friday ... Cook recorded her first career GWG midway through the ninth minute, then tucked home her team co-leading fourth goal of the season at the 51:26 mark and assisted on a Jill Bennett goal just over eight minutes later.
    Sophomore F Whitley Johns also scored her fourth goal of the year, which came at the 5:45 mark vs. CCU last Friday .... that goal, her 16th of her career, moved her into sixth place on DSU's career goals list ... Johns also assisted on Cook's second goal, which vaulted her into a tie for ninth place on the program's career points list (38,16G/6A).
    In all, 11 different Trailblazers have accounted for all 23 goals scored through their first 11 matches of the year ... sophomore MF Lauren Buxton added her name to that list midway through the first half vs. CCU when she scored her second career goal ... DSU's 23 goals scored this year also includes an own goal that opened the season scoring in the win vs. Cal State San Bernardino (9/5) ... the CSUSB own goal was the first by a DSU opponent since former PacWest foe Hawai'i Pacific got an unlucky defensive bounce in a 2-0 Blazer win during the 2015 season (10/30/15) ... in all, Dixie State has outscored its opponents 23-11 through 11 matches overall.
    Dixie State's draw at MSU Denver (10/4) was the team's third tie of the season, which tied the program's NCAA-era record of three draws set during the 2011 season (7-8-3) ... junior netminder Adelle Brown posted her first clean sheet in a DSU kit and made three saves at MSUD ... Brown has surrendered only three goals in six matches (0.64 GAA) with 14 saves ... DSU's defense has utilized five goalkeepers this year and the unit owns a combined 0.94 GAA through 11 matches. 

UP NEXT: Dixie State returns home next weekend for its final two home matches of the 2019 regular season. The Trailblazers begin Homecoming Weekend with a showdown vs. New Mexico Highlands on Friday, Oct. 25 at 7:30 p.m., before hosting CSU-Pueblo on Senior Day Sunday, Oct. 27, at 1:30 p.m.