(MATCH NOTES - PDF)

OPENING TOUCH: Dixie State (11-3-6) continues its quest for a national championship this weekend as the Trailblazers travel to Bellingham, Wash., for the 2019 NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Tournament South Central Regional final and quarterfinal rounds.
    The fifth-seeded Trailblazers will play South Central Region No. 2 seed Dallas Baptist (17-0-3) in the regional final on Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m. (PT), on the home pitch of West Region No. 3 seed Western Washington. The winner of the DSU/DBU match will then face the winner of the WWU/West No. 5 seed Point Loma in the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinal round on Saturday at 3 p.m. (PT). WWU and PLNU will play in the West Region final on Thursday night at 6 p.m. (PT).
    Live stats and streaming video information for DSU's NCAA tournament run can be found HERE.

ABOUT THURSDAY'S MATCH: Thursday's match between Dixie State and Dallas Baptist will be the first-ever meeting between the Trailblazers and Patriots on the soccer pitch. DBU, which won both the Lone Star Conference regular season and tournament titles, earned a first-round bye and advanced on to the regional final after outlasting RMAC member Colorado School of Mines on penalty kicks, 5-4 (T, 1-1), back on Nov. 23.

ABOUT THE REST OF THE "SWEET 16" FIELD: Host Western Washington (20-2-0) advanced on the West Regional final on the strength of two 1-0 results over Stanislaus State (11/22) and Cal State Los Angeles (11/24 in OT) two weekends ago. The Vikings won both the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (12-0-0) regular season and GNAC tournament titles and enter this weekend's play riding a 16-match winning streak, having last tasted defeat in a road match at Mines back on Sept. 28 (L, 1-2).
    DSU is 0-3-0 all-time against WWU, though the two sides have not played since the 2013 season (0-3 at WWU; 9/14/13).
    Meanwhile Point Loma (14-2-2) posted home wins over Cal Poly Pomona (3-1; 11/21) and UC San Diego (1-0; 11/23) during the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament two weeks ago in San Diego. The Sea Lions won their second-straight Pacific West Conference title (9-0-2) and their fourth conference crown in the last six seasons overall.
    The Trailblazers are 3-4-0 all-time vs. their former PacWest rivals, which includes a 2-0 loss earlier this season in San Diego (9/12/19).

COACHING STAFF: Steve Golas (Coe College, 1998; 11-3-6 at Dixie State/42-49-18 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). 

DSU OPENS THE NCAA TOURNEY WITH TWO "SWEET" RESULTS: Dixie State came away with its first two NCAA Tournament wins in program history as the Trailblazers swept through the Colorado Springs portion of the South Central Regional two weekends ago. DSU opened the tournament play with a hard-fought result over No. 4 seed Texas Woman's in penalty kicks, 4-3, on Nov. 22.
    The Blazers got go-ahead goals from sophomore Whitley Johns (11, 21') and junior Jill Bennett (5, 52'), but the Pioneers managed to answer both DSU scores and the match wound up going to a shootout after both sides battled to a 2-2 draw. DSU freshman keeper Mashaun Estridge set the early tone in the shootout as she stopped the first Pioneer attempt, however the Trailblazers could not capitalize as they misfired on their first kick. After both teams converted in round two, Estridge stepped up again and made a huge stop on an Abigail Martinez boot.
    Junior Sophie Stewart and freshman Shaylynn Uyeshiro then tucked home their two chances in rounds three and four, and after TWU converted in its final kick to pull even at 3-3, senior Kamie Hunter stepped forward and fired home the game-winning attempt to lift the Trailblazers to the win.
    Dixie State then pulled off the biggest upset of the NCAA Tournament two days later (Nov. 24) with a 2-1 triumph over No. 1 ranked and top-seed UCCS on the Mountain Lions' home pitch. Johns (12; 21') got DSU on the board with another first half goal, which was matched by UCCS eight-plus minutes later. With 13-plus minutes gone in the second half, sophomore Jaci Cook-Dandos (4; 59') was in the right spot at the right time as she took advantage of a defensive miscue inside the UCCS penalty box and booted home to eventual game-winning goal into an empty net. The Blazers then fought of a couple UCCS scoring chances late to come away with the result and advance on to the "Sweet 16." 

DIXIE STATE IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: Prior to notching its first two tournament wins two weekends ago, 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.

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). 

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 this past Nov. 20. Johns was voted to the organization's first team and advanced 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 in November, finished the regular season ranked in the top-10 in seven RMAC statistical categories overall. The sophomore moved into t-fourth place on DSU's single-season goals list (12) with goals in each of the Blazers' two NCAA tourney wins. Three of her 12 goals on the year have been game-winners, while she has scored at least one goal in six of her last 11 matches overall with one two-goal outing and her third-career hat trick in a 10-1 home win over New Mexico Highlands (10/25), which helped her earn RMAC Offensive Player of the Week honors (10/29).
    Johns has scored at least one goal in nine of DSU's 20 matches this season, and the Trailblazers are 7-0-2 in those outings. The sophomore also vaulted into fifth place on DSU's career goals list (25) and she is currently ranked fourth in career GWG (10) and fifth in points (54; 24g/6a).
    Cook, who garnered second team all-RMAC 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 regular season matches. 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 currently leads the team in assists (9) and is second in goals (9) and points (25).

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 anchors a Trailblazer defensive back field that has surrendered only 19 goals in 20 matches with seven shutout results, and has held opponents to only 10.4 shots (4.5 on goal) per game. Allsop has also scored one goal and assisted on six others, while Ashton has found the back of the net four times on the year.
    Brown has been outstanding in goal after becoming the full-time starting goalkeeper midway through the year. The junior owns a 0.76 GAA and has surrender just 10 goals with 43 saves and three solo clean sheets in over 1,184 minutes between the pipes. Stewart has tallied two of her three goals and recorded two 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). The junior also collected an assist on the Jill Bennett goal in DSU's NCAA first round win over TWU (11/22).

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 final 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' regular season offensively 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's 11 victories in 2019 marks 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 11 wins this season have come 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 148-89-18 all-time (.615) 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 54-19 through 19 matches this season ... the 54 goals (t-18th nationally; 2.70 gpm - 14th nationally) to this point of the season are tied for the second-most in the program's NCAA era (2008), 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 34 assists and 142 total points are also good for fourth place on those respective season top-10 program lists.
    In all, 14 different Trailblazers have accounted for 51 of DSU's 54 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 ... the senior also netted the match-clinching goal in DSU's PK shootout win over TWU (11/22) in the NCAA tourney opener.
    Junior D Jill Bennett tallied a goal and two assists at the Colorado Springs regional ... Bennett picked up assist numbers #3 and #4 on both Johns' goals, and tucked in her fifth goal of the year in the second half vs. TWU (11/22) ... Bennett now has 10 assists to her credit and needs only one more dime to break into the top-10 on DSU's career assists list ... sophomore Jaci Cook-Dandos notched her second GWG of the year in the second round upset win at UCCS (11/24) ... the sophomore has four goals this season overall, including a GWG earlier this year vs. CSU-Pueblo (10/27).
    Dixie State's draw vs. TWU in the NCAA Tournament first round (11/22) was the team's sixth 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).  
    Junior GK Adelle 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 (1184:23) in goal this season to have her current 0.76 GAA qualify for DSU single-season (currently t-No. 3 all-time) and career rankings ... Brown's 0.76 GAA has vaulted to the top of DSU's career GAA list, and the junior is ranked eighth in career wins (8) and ShOs (3), and ninth in minutes played.
    Freshman GK Mashaun Estridge came up big in the clutch in DSU's two PK shootouts this postseason ... Estridge has stopped 3-of-10 total PK chances, including one stop vs. MSU Denver in the RMAC quarterfinal (11/8), and she made two huge saves in the TWU shootout win (11/22) ... DSU's defense has utilized five goalkeepers this year and the unit owns a combined 0.89 GAA.

UP NEXT: The 2019 NCAA Division II College Cup will be held next Thursday-Saturday, Dec. 12-14, at Highmark Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pa.