(MATCH NOTES - PDF)

OPENING TOUCH: Dixie State (2-0-0/0-0-0 RMAC) opens the road portion of its 2019 slate this weekend as the Trailblazers head to SoCal to renew a pair of old Pacific West Conference rivalries. DSU will travel to San Diego to face Point Loma (0-1-0) on Thursday beginning at 4:30 p.m. (PT), before heading north to Irvine to square off against Concordia-Irvine (1-2-0) on Saturday, Sept. 14 at 1 p.m. (PT).  
    Live stats and video information for all four matches can be found HERE.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: Thursday's match at Point Loma will be the seventh meeting between the Trailblazers and Sea Lions on the pitch, with the two sides having split each of the six previous matches. After winning the first two in the series, DSU had lost three-straight before claiming a 3-1 result during the program's last season in the PacWest (10/21/17) to even the series at 3-3-0.
    Meanwhile, Dixie State is 1-3-0 all-time vs. CUI and has lost three-straight in its series with the Eagles as members of the PacWest, this after the Blazers won the first-ever meeting in a non-conference tilt by a 3-1 count in 2007 (9/15/07).

COACHING STAFF: Steve Golas (Coe College, 1998; 2-0-0 at Dixie State/33-46-12 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). 

TRAILBLAZERS PICKED THIRD IN THE RMAC IN 2019: Dixie State was voted to finish third in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference women's soccer preseason coaches' poll released on August 13.
    Defending RMAC champion Colorado School of Mines was the consensus choice to defend its crown as the Orediggers received 13 of the possible 14 first place votes to claim the top spot in the poll with 169 points. UCCS collected the other first place vote and tallied 151 points to finish second, followed by DSU in third with 129 points, MSU Denver (122 pts) in fourth, Regis (120 pts) in fifth, Westminster College (114 pts) in sixth, and CSU-Pueblo (91 pts) claimed the seventh spot to round out the top-half of the 14-team poll.

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). 

LAST TIME OUT: Dixie State began the 2019 campaign on a strong note as the Trailblazers claimed both ends of their season-opening homestand last weekend at Trailblazer Stadium. DSU erupted for four second-half goals on its way to a decisive 6-1 result over Cal State San Bernardino last Thursday, then rallied for two goals over the final nine minutes of regulation and overtime to slip past Seattle Pacific on Saturday, 2-1. 

DIXIE STATE IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS: The Trailblazer's hot start garnered them votes in this week's United Soccer Coaches top-25 poll, in fact, Dixie State is just out of the top-25 at No. 26 overall.

2019 TEAM NOTES: Dixie State ran its home pitch winning streak to six-straight and has won eight of its last nine since at Trailblazer Stadium since the start of last season ... DSU also moved to 8-3-3 all-time in both season openers and home openers in now 13-plus seasons of NCAA play ... DSU has also won four-straight home openers and three-straight season openers overall ... in addition, the Trailblazers' six goals vs. CSUSB were the most goals scored in a season-opening match in the program's NCAA era and eclipsed the previous high of five goals set in DSU's first-ever NCAA match, a 5-0 result at Westminster College on Aug. 26, 2006.
    Seven different players accounted for all eight goals scored last week, including first collegiate goals for junior Breesa Nawahine (GWG), sophomores Jaci Cook-Dandos and Zoe Clark, and freshman Brynlie Ivie in the CSUSB win last Thursday ... meanwhile, junior Sophie Stewart found the back of the net for her first goal in a DSU kit, which wound up being the "golden goal" in overtime vs. SPU on Saturday.
    Sophomore forward Whitley Johns collected her first goal of the season, and 13th of her brief career, early in the 84th-minute vs. SPU and she assisted on the Stewart game winner ... Johns' goal not only tied the match, but it moved her into a tie for 10th place on DSU's career goals list ... senior also Alexa Ashton added an important insurance goal six-plus minutes into the second half vs. CSUSB, while the Blazers got on the board vs. the Coyotes thanks to an "own goal" midway through the 26th-minute of play ... the CSUSB own goal was the first by a DSU opponent since former PacWest foe Hawai'i Pacific got an unlucky bounce in a 2-0 Blazer win during the 2015 season (10/30/15).
    While the DSU offense was clicking on all cylinders, the defense picked up right where it left off from last season as the Blazer back line limited its two opponents to a combined two goals, 10 total shots and three SOG ... sophomore keeper Chandler Greenwood picked up both wins in her first two collegiate starts and finished the weekend with a 1.03 GAA and one save.

UP NEXT: Dixie State kicks off its final season of RMAC play with a three-match homestand beginning with a date vs. in-state rival Westminster College at Trailblazer Stadium on Sunday, Sept. 22. Kick-off is slated for 1:30 p.m.