** Dixie State's NCAA Tournament First Round match vs. Texas Woman's has been moved to 6 p.m. on Friday due to snow in Colorado Springs**

(MATCH NOTES - PDF)
(2019 NCAA WOMEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT PROGRAM)

OPENING TOUCH: Dixie State (10-3-5) will make its second NCAA postseason appearance in program history this weekend as the Trailblazers head to Colorado Springs for the first two rounds of the 2019 NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament South Central Regionals.
    DSU, which was awarded the No. 5 seed as an at-large selection out of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, will play No. 4 seed Texas Woman's University (15-5-0) on Friday afternoon at 1 p.m., on the home pitch of region top-seed No. 1 UCCS. The winner of the DSU/TWU match will then play the host Mountain Lions in the tournament second round on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
    Live stats and streaming video information for DSU's NCAA tournament run can be found HERE.

ABOUT FRIDAY'S MATCH: Friday's match between DSU and TWU will be the first-ever meeting on the soccer pitch between the Trailblazers and Pioneers, who earned an at-large bid out of the Lone Star Conference. Texas Woman's finished fourth in the LSC with a 10-3-0 record, and advanced to the semifinal of its conference tournament this past Friday, where the Pioneers were stopped by eventual tourney champion Dallas Baptist, 2-0.

THE REST OF THE REGIONAL FIELD: Rounding out the South Region field is No. 2 seed and Lone Star champion Dallas Baptist, which will play the winner of No. 3 seed and RMAC tourney champion Colorado School of Mines and No. 6 seed St. Edward's, which also earned an at-large bid out of the LSC. The Mines/SEU match will be played on Thursday in Dallas, with DBU awaiting the winner on Saturday.

COACHING STAFF: Steve Golas (Coe College, 1998; 10-3-5 at Dixie State/41-49-17 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). 

LAST TIME OUT: Dixie State was last in action on Nov. 9, when the Blazers dropped a heart-breaking conference tournament quarterfinal match to MSU Denver, 1-1 (4-3 on penalty kicks) in Golden, Colo. After giving up a goal in the first five minutes of the match, DSU netted the equalizer 14 minutes before the halftime buzzer when Alexa Ashton finished a Kilee Allsop feed into the right side of the netting.
    Despite outshooting the Roadrunners 17-7 in the match, the Trailblazers could not net a game-winning goal in regulation time or either overtime session, which resulted in DSU's first-ever penalty kick shootout.
     After both sides converted on each of their first three attempts, freshman netminder Mashaun Estridge guessed right on MSUD's fourth try to give the Blazers a chance for a win with two kicks remaining. However Dixie State could not convert on its next try, and after the Roadrunners tucked in a goal in the fifth round, DSU misfired on its final attempt to extend the shootout. 

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). 

DIXIE STATE IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: Dixie State last qualified for the NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Tournament 10 years ago in 2009 as the Pacific West Conference champion (14-4-0/13-1-0 PacWest), and was the West Region's No. 5 overall seed. However the team's tourney run was short-lived as Dixie State lost a 4-1 decision to No. 4 seed Cal State Dominguez Hills (11/13/09) in a match played in Los Angeles.

JOHNS AND COOK EARN D2CCA ALL-REGION HONORS: Sophomore forward Whitley Johns and junior midfielder Kelsey Cook were named to the 2019 Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) South Central Region Women's Soccer team on Wednesday. Johns was voted to the organization's first team and will now advance on to the national ballot for D2CCA All-America consideration, while Cook collected second team all-region recognition.  
    Johns, who also earned first team all-RMAC earlier this month, finished the regular season ranked in the top-10 in seven RMAC statistical categories overall. The sophomore is currently fourth in the conference in goals (10) and goals per game (0.55), t-fifth in game-winning goals (3), and fifth in points (23). Johns scored at least one goal in four of her last nine matches overall with one two-goal outing and her third-career hat trick in a 10-1 home win over New Mexico Highlands back on Oct. 25, which helped her earn RMAC Offensive Player of the Week honors (10/29). Johns has scored goals in seven of DSU's 18 matches to this point of the season, and the Trailblazers are 6-0-1 in those outings.
    Cook, who garnered second team all-conference honors, came on strong in the second half of the RMAC season as the junior scored six of her eight goals and collected five of her team-leading nine assists in DSU's last 10 matches overall. Cook scored a pair of goals in a home win vs. Colorado Christian (5-1, 10/11) and found the back of the net two more times in a 4-0 result at Western Colorado (11/3) in the regular season finale. Cook is currently second the RMAC in assists (9), fourth in points (25), and t-fifth overall in goals scored (8).

DSU LANDS SIX ON RMAC POSTSEASON AWARDS LIST: Along with Johns and Cook, four other Trailblazers collected conference postseason honorable mention recognition, including seniors Kilee Allsop and Alexa Ashton, and juniors Adelle Brown and Sophie Stewart.
    Allsop and Ashton has anchored a Trailblazer defensive back field that has surrendered only 15 goals in 17 matches with seven shutout results, and has held opponents to only 9.8 shots (4.3 on goal) per game. Allsop has also scored one goal and assisted on six others, while Ashton has tallied four goals on the year.
    Brown has been outstanding in goal after becoming the full-time starting goalkeeper midway through the year. The junior owns a 0.62 GAA and has surrender just six goals with 31 saves and three solo clean sheets in over 864 minutes between the pipes. Stewart has tallied two of her three goals and recorded both of her assists in RMAC play, highlighted by a three-point performance with a goal and an assist in a 5-0 road win at Adams State (10/18).  

PERFECT 10 AND/OR SWEET 16: Dixie State combined to score 16 goals in wins over NMHU (10/25) and CSU-P (10/27) to close out its 2019 home slate, including a single-match record tying 10 goals in the NMHU triumph, followed by six more tallies in the CSU-P result.
    The 16 goals scored were also a DSU program record for most goals scored a two-match stretch, while the 10 goals vs. NMHU equaled the program's single-game record of 10 set in a 10-2 neutral-site win over Northwest Christian in Salt Lake City during the 2007 season (9/7/07).
    In addition, the Trailblazers collected seven assists on their 10 goals, which is the second-highest single match total in program history, while the 27 points (10g/7a) broke the previous school record of 25 set in the NCU win in 2007.

ON OUR "OWN": Dixie State was the beneficiary of two "own goals" in the weekend of the regular season in Grand Junction, including the lone goal of the match in its 1-0 win over CMU (11/1). DSU's final goal of the season was also an own goal on a Western Colorado (W, 4-0; 11/3) defensive miscue on a Blazer corner kick.
    That goal served as the second book-end on the Blazers' offensive season as Dixie State's first goal of the 2019 campaign came on a Cal State San Bernardino own goal (9/5) in a match DSU won by a 6-1 count. 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).

TEAM NOTES: Dixie State posted 10 regular season victories in 2019, which marked the sixth-straight season and the 10th season in the program's NCAA-era that the Trailblazers have reached double digits in wins ... seven of those 10 wins this season came at home (7-1-1), and DSU has won 13 of its last 15 home matches overall since the start of the 2018 season.
    Dixie State played in its 250th NCAA match when the Blazers took the field vs. CSU-P back on Oct. 27 ... the Trailblazers are now 147-89-17 all-time (.614) since joining the NCAA ranks in 2006.
    Dixie State has scored five or more goals five times this season, including a six-goal outing in the season opener vs. CSUSB (6-1, 9/5) and a pair of five-goal games against Colorado Christian (10/11) and at Adams State (10/18).
    DSU has outscored its opponents 50-16 through 18 matches this season ... the 50 goals (t-21st nationally) to this point of the season are fourth-most in the program's NCAA era, and are the most since the Blazers netted 53 goals in 2009 ... the school record for goals in a season is 55, which was set in 2007 ... DSU's 31 assists and 131 total points are also good for fifth place on those respective season top-10 program lists.
    In all, 14 different Trailblazers have accounted for 47 of DSU's 50 total goals scored, and 17 players have recorded at least one point so far this season ... senior Kamie Hunter netted her second-career goal midway through the second half in the WCU match (11/3) ... Hunter's goal at WCU came 54 matches after her first collegiate goal, which was a game-winner in DSU's 2-0 home win over Academy of Art on Oct. 22, 2016.
    Dixie State's draw vs. MSUD at the RMAC tourney (11/8) was the team's fifth tie of the season, which has eclipsed the program's NCAA-era previous record of three draws set during the 2011 season (7-8-3).  
    Brown tied DSU's NCAA-era single match record for saves with 10 in the CSU-P win (10/27), including several clutch stops in the second half ... Brown tied former DSU keeper Abby Johnson, who stopped 10 MSU-Billings shots during the 2012 season (L, 0-2 - 9/6/12) ... Brown posted her third solo clean sheet in a DSU kit and made one save in the CMU road win (11/1), then played 61-plus minutes and only faced one total shot vs. WCU (11/3) ... Brown has now played enough minutes (984:23) in goal this season to have her current 0.64 GAA qualify for DSU single-season rankings (currently No. 2 all-time) ... Brown is also less than 16 minutes away to qualify for DSU's career GAA list ... DSU's defense has utilized five goalkeepers this year and the unit owns a combined 0.83 GAA.

HEAD COACH STEVE GOLAS ON THE TRAILBLAZERS: "This is a tremendous honor, our team has worked so hard [for the NCAA berth]. We talked about this from day one that this was a goal, and to see their faces and to see them celebrate was fun, but we're not done. Obviously getting [to the NCAA Tournament] is the big goal, but now that we are there we're here to compete, and I think that's going to be a big thing for us trying to drive that home over the next couple days.
    "Our team has battled and persevered through so many injuries and so many other tumults this year, it's amazing to see where they have put themselves. We're incredibly excited, we're hoping to not be done yet, and we're not satisfied. We're looking forward to getting to the Springs and hopefully making a little bit of noise there now."

UP NEXT: The NCAA Tournament third round and quarterfinal matches will be played Dec. 5-8 at on-campus sites, and the NCAA Division II College Cup will be held Dec. 12-14, at Highmark Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pa.