(MATCH NOTES - PDF)

OPENING TOUCH: Dixie State (0-0-0/0-0-0 RMAC) officially kicks off the 2019 season this weekend with a pair of home matches on the pitch at Trailblazer Stadium. DSU opens the campaign this Thursday night against Cal State San Bernardino (0-0) at 7:30 p.m., followed by a date vs. Seattle Pacific (0-0) on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
    In addition to the two DSU matches, SPU will face Rogers State at Trailblazer Stadium on Thursday at 5 p.m., and CSUSB will play RSU prior to the DSU/SPU match on Saturday at 10 a.m. Live stats and video information for all four matches can be found HERE.

DIXIE STATE VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: Dixie State enters Thursday's opener vs. CSUSB having won two-straight (via ShO) vs. the Coyotes to even the series at 3-3-0, including a 2-0 result in last year's season opener in San Bernardino.
    On the flipside, DSU will look to post its first-ever win over Seattle Pacific after having dropped the previous four match-ups vs. the Falcons. Three of the four Trailblazer losses to SPU have come via shutout, which includes a 1-0 loss in the last meeting (9/3/16) between the two sides in the 2016 season.

COACHING STAFF: Steve Golas (Coe College, 1998; 0-0-0 at Dixie State/31-46-12 overall record) begins 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). 

2019 PREVIEW: Dixie State returns nine starters and 18 letter winners from last season's 13-6-0 side that tied for fourth place (8-5-0, 24 pts) in the RMAC table and advanced to the semifinals of the RMAC tournament. A school record 11 of DSU's 13 wins last fall came via shutout, which eclipsed the previous record of seven posted in seven different seasons, and the Trailblazers also shattered the program's NCAA-era goals against average with an 0.53 GAA.   
    The Trailblazers outscored their opponents by a whopping 35-10 margin, and seven of DSU's 10 goal scorers (28 of 35 total goals) return for 2019. Sophomore forward Whitley Johns (Gilbert, Ariz./Campo Verde HS) headlines DSU's group of returnees as she is coming off a spectacular freshman campaign that saw her earn RMAC Freshman of the Year, First Team all-RMAC, and D2CCA and USC second team all-region honors. She finished her first collegiate season ranked in the top-five in four RMAC statistical categories, including leading the league with seven game-winning goals, while she was t-third overall in both goals scored (12) and points (27), and was fifth in shot attempts (69).
    DSU also welcomes back junior midfielders Ambree Bennett (South Jordan, Utah/Herriman HS) and Kelsey Cook (American Fork, Utah/American Fork HS), who combined for 11 goals and six assists as full-time starters last season. Both players finished second on the team behind Johns in points (14), with Bennett netting six goals with two assists, while Cook found the back of the net five times with four assists.
    However defense was the Trailblazers' calling card a season ago as DSU surrendered a school record-low 10 goals on its way to a record 11 shutout victories. As a unit, DSU's defense allowed just 7.8 shots per match (149 total shots), which included a paltry 3.2 shots on goal (61 total).
    Returning seniors Kilee Allsop (Smithfield, Utah/Sky View HS) and Alexa Ashton (St. George, Utah/Dixie HS) helped anchor the Blazer defense backfield, and the duo also proved to be dangerous on the offensive side. Allsop led the team with five assists to go with one goal, while Ashton managed to boot home a pair of goals.
    Between the pipes, senior netminder Nicole Rahman (Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes HS) returns after a stellar junior campaign that saw her garner D2CCA all-South Central region accolades. Thanks to DSU's stingy defensive play, Rahman posted a 10-1-0 record in goal with an RMAC leading and DSU single season school-record 0.29 goals against average (GAA), and a season record-tying six solo shutout wins. In fact, eight of Rahman's 10 wins in goal overall last past season came via shutout, while her six solo clean sheets were also good for third place on DSU's career list, and her 10 wins ranks her third on the single-season list and seventh on the career list.

UP NEXT: Dixie State opens the road portion of its 2019 slate next 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 on Thursday, Sept. 12, before heading north to Irvine to square off against Concordia-Irvine on Saturday, Sept. 14.