(POST MATCH REACTION)
(FULL MATCH REPLAY)

No. 5 seed Dixie State claimed its first-ever NCAA Division II region title Thursday afternoon on the strength of a 2-1 result over No. 2 seed Dallas Baptist in the South Central Regional championship match played at Harrington Field.

With the victory, the Trailblazers (12-3-6) advance on the 2019 NCAA D-II national quarterfinal match on Saturday afternoon against West Region champion and host Western Washington, which defeated Point Loma by a 1-0 count on Thursday night. The winner of Saturday's match, which kicks off at 3 p.m. (PT), will then move on to the 2019 NCAA D-II Final Four next weekend in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Dixie State dodged an early bullet in the opening minutes of the match when DBU (17-1-3) midfielder Abigail Olmos caught up to a through ball for a 1-v-1 chance against Blazer netminder Adelle Brown. However the junior would set the tone for the DSU defense on the day with a clutch one-handed save to deny Olmos and keep the match scoreless.

The Trailblazers created a couple dangerous chances later in the first half, the first came on a Whitley Johns blast that was stopped by Patriot keeper Hope Koym, while Tess Donaldson just missed on a bender that barely sailed over the cross bar in the 17^th-minute.

However DSU would solve Koym and the Patriots late in the 27^th-minute when Ambree Bennett flicked a pass to Jill Bennett, who side-stepped one DBU defender and Koym to tuck home her sixth goal of the year just inside the far post to give the Blazers a 1-0 lead.

Dixie State would tack on a big insurance goal midway through the 60^th-minute when Sophie Stewart dribbled past three Patriot defenders and centered the ball to Johns, who corralled the deflected pass and fired home her team-leading 13^th goal (and fourth game-winning goal) of the year to give DSU a two-goal cushion.

DSU kept up the offensive pressure as the Trailblazers peppered DBU with six more shot attempts, but could not tally their third goal. Meanwhile, the Dixie State defense stifled the Patriots, limiting them to just four total shots in the second half. However Dallas Baptist would score on its final attempt of the night with 1:03 to play in regulation time when Gabrielle Heller tapped in a carom off her first shot attempt to spoil Dixie State's shutout bid.

Dixie State would run out the clock from there to advance on to the next round and snap DBU's 20-match unbeaten streak.

"It was an amazing performance from top to bottom," said DSU Head Coach Steve Golas. "DBU obviously is a very amazing team, to go on a 20-game unbeaten streak and battle all the way through to the final minutes, and giving us all we could handle.

"Adelle [Brown] came up so huge for us in the beginning of the game," Golas added. "Our players have been this way all year, they continue to fight, they continue to grind, they believed when nobody else believed in them, this is just an amazing feeling. When you have those moments when some people step up and the lights aren't too bright, it's such a great thing to see."

Dixie State outshot DBU 19-9 for the match, which included a decisive 10-5 edge in shots on goal. Brown (9-2-4) finished with four saves and notched her ninth win in goal on the year.