Dixie State moved one step closer to earning a top-four seed in the upcoming RMAC women's soccer tournament as the Trailblazers doubled up CSU-Pueblo, 6-3, on Senior Day Sunday at Trailblazer Stadium.
The victory, DSU's third in its last four outings overall (3-0-1), moved the Blazers (8-3-4) into solo third place in the RMAC table at 6-2-3 (21 pts).
Dixie State wasted little time opening the scoring as
Sophie Stewart (3) flicked home the game's first goal just 3:45 into play.
Kelsey Cook dribbled along the far goal line and sent a pass to the center of the CSUP box to Stewart, who redirected it with her back heel to put her side on the board.
The ThunderWolves (6-7-2/5-4-2 RMAC) drew even in the 26
th minute with the first of two Madison Jepperson goals. However DSU reclaimed its lead with seven minutes to play in the half when
Jaci Cook-Dandos stole the ball from a CSUP defender and found
Zoe Clark, who fired home one of her two goals on the afternoon from 8-yards away to put Dixie State back out in front at 2-1.
Jepperson would again tie the match four-plus minutes into the second half, but the Blazers quickly countered as
Whitley Johns blasted home her team-leading 10
th goal of the year, and her fourth goal of the weekend, just 31 seconds later to spot DSU a 3-2 advantage. Senior
Kilee Allsop, who was playing in her final regular season home match, played a cross from the right wing to Johns, who finished the chance inside the near post.
Allsop picked up her second assist of the match 15 minutes later when she found Cook-Dandos for her third goal of the year to extend the Blazer lead to 4-2. The ThunderWolves would make it a one-goal game again with 12:15 to go in regulation time when Cara Siegel broke loose on a 40-plus yard sprint and rocketed in a 30-yard blast from the left wing to cut the deficit to 4-3.
Dixie State took only 1:13 to respond, this time it was Clark who settled a
Sydney Roberts cross for a straight-away shot from 15-yards out. The goal was Clark's sixth of the year and the fourth in her last two matches overall.
Cook (6) then added another insurance goal with 7:25 remaining as she bent in a corner kick over the outstretched hands of CSUP keeper Rylie Martin.
Dixie State outshot CSUP 20-18, though the ThunderWolves held a 13-12 edge in shots on goal. Junior netminder
Adelle Brown tied DSU's NCAA-era single match record for saves with 10, including several clutch stops in the second half.
DSU finished its final home weekend of the regular season with 16 goals, including a school-record tying 10 in last Friday's win vs. New Mexico Highlands (10-1), and has outscored its opponents by a 44-15 margin through 15 matches overall. The 44 goals to this point of the season are the fifth-most in the program's four-year era.
Dixie State will close the 2019 regular season on the road with two important RMAC matches as teams make their final push for conference tourney seeds. DSU will first head Grand Junction to face Colorado Mesa on Friday, Nov. 1, before wrapping up league play at Western Colorado in Gunnison on Sunday, Nov. 3.
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