(MATCH NOTES - PDF)

OPENING TOUCH: Dixie State (8-7-1/7-5-0 RMAC) looks to clinch an RMAC tournament berth this weekend as the Trailblazers wrap up the 2019 regular season with a pair of crucial matches. DSU will open the weekend in Salt Lake City for a match at in-state rival Westminster College Friday afternoon at 3 p.m., at Dumke Field. DSU will then return home for a "Senior Day" match vs. Colorado Christian inside Trailblazer Stadium on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
    Prior to the start of Sunday's match vs. CCU, DSU will honor its three seniors, including Moises Medina and Zach Nielson, along with redshirt-sophomore (senior academically) Noah Hill. 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 Westminster looking for its first win in the series after the Griffins have claimed three of the first four matches played between the two sides. Both teams met earlier this season at Trailblazer Stadium (9/20) in the RMAC opener for both side, which was decided on a Griffin golden goal in overtime, 1-0.  
    Dixie State and CCU will meet for just the second time on the soccer pitch in Sunday's season finale. Last season the Trailblazers claimed a 1-0 road result in the final match of the 2018 season in Lakewood (10/27/18).

COACHING STAFF: Head Coach Jonny Broadhead (Colorado State-Pueblo, 2004; 27-21-3 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.

LAST TIME OUT: Dixie State picked up six big points in the RMAC standings last weekend as the Trailblazers swept through their final regular season trip to Colorado as conference members. DSU opened the trip with a 3-1 result at Adams State last Friday in Alamosa, and completed the sweep with a 3-2 triumph at CSU-Pueblo this past Sunday afternoon.

THINGS TIGHTENING UP IN RMAC RACE: Dixie State enters the final weekend of the 2019 season alone in sixth place in the RMAC table at 7-5-0 (21 pts) and in driver's seat to clinch the sixth and final conference postseason tournament spot, thanks in part to Sunday's win at now seventh-place CSU-P (6-6-0, 18 pts)
    No. 18 Colorado School of Mines (9-1-2, 29 pts) owns a one-game lead on Westminster (8-2-2 pts) in the race for the No. 1-seed as both sides have already clinched RMAC tournament berths. Regis (8-3-0, 24 pts) is in third in the RMAC table, followed by Colorado Mesa (7-3-2, 23 pts) in fourth and Fort Lewis (7-4-1, 22 pts) in fifth.
    The top-six teams in the standings will advance on to the 2019 RMAC Tournament, which will be held Nov. 7-15, with the winner of the tourney earning the conference's automatic bid to the 2019 NCAA South Central Regionals.

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).

MEDINA NAMED RMAC OPOW: Senior forward Moises Medina was named RMAC Offensive Player of the Week on Tuesday for his efforts in the Trailblazers' road sweep last weekend.
    Medina netted three goals, including both game-winners on the weekend, on his way to becoming DSU's career leader in goals scored (31) and GWG (13). He struck for two first half goals against ASU on Friday, then converted his third PK of the season, which eventually became his fourth game-clinching tally of the year, in the CSU-P win. The senior enters the final week of the regular season as the RMAC leader in points (21) and points per match (1.40), t-second in goals scored (8) and t-sixth in assists (5).
    Medina, who is also DSU's career leader in assists (21) and points (83, 31G/21A), passed former DSU standout Jordan Roylance (2009-12) for the top spot on both career goal lists. All eight of Medina's goals in 2019 have come in his last 11 matches, including his school record third-career hat trick in DSU's 5-2 result vs. MSU Denver (9/22). Medina's other two hat tricks came during his sophomore season in 2017 (at UCCS 9/11/17, vs. Point Loma 10/21/17).

2019 TEAM NOTES: Sophomore defender Idris Alabi scored goals in both wins over the weekend, including a big insurance goal midway through the second half at ASU, and he got DSU on the board with his third goal of the season at the 9:25 mark of play at CSU-P ... freshman Logan Beus assisted on both Alabi goals, and the freshman would strike for his second tally of the year at CSU-P on Sunday, which gave DSU a 2-1 second half lead ... Beus' two dimes last weekend pulled him into a tie with Medina for the team lead.
    Sophomores Daniel Brubaker (4 ast) and Raul Ruiz (3 ast) were credited with assists on both of Medina's goals at ASU ... in fact, you could say there is equal distribution in goals and assists (24 assists total on 28 goals) on this year's club as nine different players have at least one dime ... coincidentally, nine different players have also scored goals through 16 matches as well ... 13 of DSU's 28 goals have been scored by freshmen, with Guglielmo Bianchi (6 goals) and John Joseph (5 goals) combining for 11 of those goals, to go with Beus' two.
     Senior netminder Zach Nielson collected career wins #28 and #29 over the weekend to pad his record-setting win total ... nine of his 29 wins have come via shutout, including his second clean sheet of the year vs. SD Mines (10/11) ... Nielson has 217 career saves to his credit over his four years at DSU and he is just the second GK in program history with 200-plus career saves (Tyler Walters, 298, 2010-13) ... Nielson stopped a career-high 10 shots in the FLC road win (10/6), which tied him with former DSU keeper Spencer Anderson (10 vs. Cal Poly Pomona, 2014) for the second-most saves in a single match in program history ... Nielson is currently second in the RMAC in saves (85 - 5th-nationally) and fourth in saves/match (5.31 spm - 26th-nationally) ... Dixie State is also ranked 28th in the country in save percentage (.794) and is tied for 31st-nationally in saves/match (5.31 spm).

UP NEXT: The top-six teams in the standings will advance on to the 2019 RMAC Tournament, which will be held Nov. 7-15, with the winner of the tourney earning the conference's automatic bid to the 2019 NCAA South Central Regionals.