(FULL MATCH REPLAY)

Dixie State saw its run to a national championship come to an end on Saturday as the Trailblazers were felled at No. 7 Western Washington, 3-0, in the 2019 NCAA Division II Women's Soccer National Quarterfinal match (Elite 8) at Harrington Field.

The Trailblazers' closed their remarkable season with a 12-4-6 overall record, which included three tournament victories en route the NCAA South Central regional title. The tourney run was highlighted by a 2-1 second round victory over No. 1-ranked UCCS (11/24) and a 2-1 triumph over No. 9 Dallas Baptist this past Thursday. Meanwhile, WWU (22-2-0) will move on to the 2019 NCAA D-II Final Four, which will be played next weekend in Pittsburgh, Pa.

WWU forced the issue offensively in the opening 45 minutes of play as the Vikings kept possession on DSU's side of the field for the majority of the period. Western had two good looks at goals midway through the frame, the first came off the boot of Peyton Chick that was turned away on a diving stop by Blazer netminder Adelle Brown. Brown then came up with another huge save four-plus minutes later on an Emily Nelson header set up by a WWU corner kick.

However the Trailblazer defense could not fend off the Vikings for long as WWU managed to break through with the first goal of the match with 15:50 to play in the period. Chick got off a straight-away shot that was stopped by Brown, but the rebound caromed to Dayana Diaz, who tucked the loose ball into the empty net to spot her side a 1-0 lead.

In all, WWU outshot Dixie State 14-2 in the period, including a 6-1 edge on goal, and earned nine corner kicks (to just one DSU corner) in the stanza. Despite the lopsided stat sheet, the Trailblazers were fortunate to be down just the one goal at the halftime break.

Western Washington struck quickly for its second goal of the day as Libby Hielkema stole a DSU clearing attempt and found Liv Larson, who fired home a shot into the right side of the net late in the 49^th-minute. The Vikings would tack on another goal with 21:40 to play to provide the final margin of victory.

Dixie State managed just three total shot attempts in the match, one on frame, while Brown finished with six saves defensively. Despite the shutout on Saturday, Dixie State's offense broke school season records for goals scored (56) and points (148), and collected the third-most assists (36) in the program's NCAA-era.