(MATCH NOTES - PDF)

OPENING TOUCH: Dixie State (0-0-0/0-0-0 RMAC) opens the 2019 season this weekend with a two-match trip to the Lone Star State. The Trailblazers begin the trip in Wichita Falls to face Midwestern State (0-0) this Thursday night at 7 p.m. (CT), before heading to Dallas for a showdown at Dallas Baptist (0-0) on Saturday night at 7 p.m. (CT). Live stats information for both matches can be found HERE.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: Both matches this week will the first-ever meetings between Dixie State and both Midwestern State and DBU on the soccer pitch.

COACHING STAFF: Head Coach Jonny Broadhead (Colorado State-Pueblo, 2004; 19-14-2 overall) begins his third season on the Trailblazer sideline after guiding DSU to a 7-9-2 mark last season, which included an eighth-place 5-7-2 mark (17 pts) in their RMAC debut.
    Broadhead came to DSU from Utah Valley University, where he served as a volunteer assistant coach for two years before being elevated to a full-time assistant position prior to the start of the 2016 season. Before his time at UVU, Broadhead served a two-year stint as assistant coach at Colorado Mesa, where he helped lead the Mavericks to an RMAC Tournament championship in 2013.
    Broadhead is joined on the sideline again this season by former DSU standout netminder Bradley Trella, who is in his third season as an assistant coach and will work with the goalkeepers.

TRAILBLAZERS PICKED SEVENTH IN THE RMAC IN 2019: Dixie State was picked to finish seventh in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference preseason coaches' poll released on August 13.
    Defending RMAC champion Colorado School of Mines was the overwhelming choice to defend its title as the Orediggers received 10 out of a possible 12 first-place votes to top the poll with 120 points. Westminster College collected one first-place nod to finish second in the preseason rankings with 104 points, followed closely by Colorado Mesa (103 pts) in third, Regis (one first place vote, 96 pts) in fourth, UCCS in fifth (72 pts) and Fort Lewis in sixth (67 pts) just one point ahead of Dixie State (66 pts).

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). 

2019 PREVIEW: Dixie State returns five starters and 14 letter winners from last season's 7-9-2 squad, highlighted by senior forward Moises Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS). Medina, who enters his final collegiate season as DSU's career assists (16) and points (62 pts, 23g/16a) leader and is second all-time in goals scored (23), started in 15 of 17 matches a season ago and led the Trailblazers in goals (5) and points (12).  
    The Trailblazers found the back of the net 25 times last season, and DSU returns 68 percent of that offensive output in 2019, including sophomores Idris Alabi (Defender; Vail, Ariz./Cienega HS) and Tony Foulger (F; Salt Lake City, Utah/Olympus HS), who both tallied three goals apiece as freshmen a year ago. Fellow sophomore Daniel Brubaker (F; Hurricane, Utah/Hurricane HS) finished last season tied for second on the club in points with eight, including a pair of goals and four assists, and sophomore Dresdan Quackenbush (F; Las Vegas, Nev./West Career and Technical Academy) collected two goals in 11 appearances in a DSU kit a year ago.
    In goal, senior netminder Zach Nielson (West Point, Utah/Northridge HS) returns after he posted a 7-7-2 record with a 1.31 GAA and 64 saves in over 1,580 played a season ago. He enters in final collegiate season tied for the program lead in career victories (21), second all-time in GAA (1.23), and third in career saves (132) and shutouts (7).

UP NEXT: Dixie State returns home for a four-match homestand at Trailblazer Stadium, beginning with a date vs. Eastern New Mexico on Friday, Sept. 13 at 7:30 p.m., before a match-up against Texas A&M-International on Sunday, Sept. 15 at 1:30 p.m. In addition to the two DSU matches, TAMU-I will face Westminster College at Trailblazer Stadium on Friday at 5 p.m., and ENMU will play Westminster prior to the DSU/TAMU-I match on Sunday at 11 a.m.