(MATCH NOTES - PDF)

OPENING TOUCH: Dixie State (4-3-1/3-1-0 RMAC) continues its four-match RMAC road swing with a return trip to Colorado for a pair of RMAC matches against two of the final four unbeaten teams in conference play this weekend. The Trailblazers start this trip in Grand Junction on Friday night to take on Colorado Mesa (5-1-1/3-0-1 RMAC) at 7 p.m., followed by a date at Fort Lewis (5-0-3/3-0-1 RMAC) on Sunday in Durango beginning at 2:30 p.m.
    Live stats and streaming video information for both matches can be found HERE.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: Dixie State enters Friday's match at Colorado Mesa looking to stop a three-game losing skid vs. the Mavericks, including a pair of 2-1 conference losses last season both at home (9/30/18) and in Grand Junction (10/12/18). That said, DSU's two wins in the series have come in Grand Junction (1-0; 9/6/09 and 1-0; 9/8/11).
    Sunday's match vs. Fort Lewis will be the fourth meeting between the Trailblazers and Skyhawks on the soccer pitch. DSU swept both RMAC matches last season (4-1 in St. George, 9/28/18; 2-1 in Durango, 10/14/18), this after the FLC won the first-ever meeting between the two sides by a 3-1 count in Durango (9/4/09) during the 2009 season.

COACHING STAFF: Head Coach Jonny Broadhead (Colorado State-Pueblo, 2004; 23-17-3 overall) is in his third season on the Trailblazer sideline after guiding DSU to a 7-9-2 mark last season, which included an eighth-place 5-7-2 mark (17 pts) in their RMAC debut.
    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, where he helped lead the Mavericks to an RMAC Tournament championship in 2013.
    Broadhead is joined on the sideline again this season by former DSU standout netminder Bradley Trella, who is in his third season as an assistant coach and will work with the goalkeepers.

TRAILBLAZERS PICKED SEVENTH IN THE RMAC IN 2019: Dixie State was picked to finish seventh in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference preseason coaches' poll released on August 13.
    Defending RMAC champion Colorado School of Mines was the overwhelming choice to defend its title as the Orediggers received 10 out of a possible 12 first-place votes to top the poll with 120 points. Westminster College collected one first-place nod to finish second in the preseason rankings with 104 points, followed closely by Colorado Mesa (103 pts) in third, Regis (one first place vote, 96 pts) in fourth, UCCS in fifth (72 pts) and Fort Lewis in sixth (67 pts) just one point ahead of Dixie State (66 pts).

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 pushed its RMAC winning streak to three-straight and picked up six big road points in the process with two victories last weekend on the Colorado Front Range.
    The Trailblazers began the trip with an impressive 2-1 result at Regis last Friday in Denver, during which DSU rallied for two unanswered goals after the Rangers struck for a goal just two minutes into play. Dixie State then closed out the weekend with a 3-1 victory at UCCS Sunday in Colorado Springs.

JOSEPH NAMED RMAC OPOW: Freshman forward John Joseph was named RMAC Men's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week on Tuesday for his efforts in the Trailblazers' two wins last weekend.
    Joseph tallied his first collegiate game-winning goal in the Blazers' 2-1 win at Regis on Friday, then followed that up with a goal in his third-straight match overall just three minutes into DSU's 3-1 win at UCCS on Sunday. He also picked up his first collegiate assist on DSU's eventual game-winning score in the 12th-minute of play vs. the Mountain Lions.

2019 TEAM NOTES: Senior forward Moises Medina netted his team-leading fourth goal of the season in Sunday's win at UCCS, and in the process, pulled into a tie atop DSU's career GWG list (Jordan Roylance, 11 - 2009-12) with his 11th game-winner overall ... Medina's goal at UCCS, his 27th goal in 58 career matches, also moved him to within on goal of tying Roylance (28) atop DSU's career goals list ... Medina's four goals this season have come over his last three matches, including his third-career hat trick in DSU's 5-2 result over MSU Denver (9/22) ... his hat trick was just the fifth in program history and the first since the senior achieved the feat twice in the 2017 season (at UCCS 9/11/17, vs. Point Loma 10/21/17) ... Roylance accounted for DSU's other two hat tricks, both of which came during the 2009 season.
    Freshman MF Guglielmo Bianchi scored his third goal of the season, and second in his last three matches overall, at UCCS last Sunday off a Daniel Brubaker assist ... Brubaker is one of five Trailblazers, including Medina, fellow sophomores Matt Lockwood and Raul Ruiz, and freshman Logan Beus, who have each collected two assists through eight matches this season ... Beus also netted his first collegiate goal, which came on a Lockwood dime, in the 15' at Regis last Friday.
    Senior netminder Zach Nielson picked up career wins #24 and #25 on DSU's road trip last weekend ... Nielson moved past former DSU GK Tyler Walters (21, 2010-13) for the top spot on the program's NCAA-era career wins list in the Blazers' 1-0 result at DBU (9/7) ... Nielson, who leads all RMAC GKs in saves (45, 5.62 spg) through eight matches, also posted his eighth-career clean sheet in the DBU win, which pulled him to within three shutouts away from tying Walters (11, 2010-13) for second place all-time on that list ... Walters stopped a combined 11 shots last weekend, including seven saves in the win at Regis last Friday.

UP NEXT: Dixie State kicks off a four-match homestand next weekend with matches against the two RMAC Mines schools, beginning with a date vs. South Dakota Mines on Friday, Oct. 11, followed by a match against conference favorite Colorado School of Mines on Sunday, Oct. 13.