Dixie State men's soccer played UNLV to a season-finale 3-1 win with two late-game goals to seal the result.

 

WHAT HEAD COACH JONNY BROADHEAD SAID: "Definitely not what we made a game plan for, the other team getting two red cards. So it made me a little nervous because we don't work on that in practice very much because you try to keep numbers even so it's more like a game. You don't usually put a team up two players, but you should, because you never know. We got a little nervous going up two [players] because I knew they'd just sit in and make it hard to get in there."

 

"We talked about composure to finish and Matt's extra touch to finish on the first one and the second [goal] was all composure. It just feels good. These guys have so many things going against them as a new program, they have every reason to complain or get frustrated and they just continue to find a reason on game day and in preps to be motivated and as a coach it's, I don't know how many coaches out there get this opportunity to be a first year Division I and watch players psychology, mentality go through it but this is pretty cool to see the guys. It feels pretty special."

 

Right out of the gate in this game, these two teams could tell it would be an intense match. On senior night for UNLV and the season finale for Dixie State, both teams wanted to end their regular seasons on a high note. 

 

DSU earned a free kick in just the first minute but could not do much with it; UNLV answered with a pair of free-kicks and a shot of their own, all in the opening five minutes of the match. 

 

In a match with a lot of yellow, Jimi Villasenor was shown the first of the night in the 10th minute of play. The Rebels then had a penalty kick taken by Jesus Partida that sent Trailblazer keeper Levi Lord the wrong way, and he netted the first goal of the night.

 

Two minutes later, UNLV captain Billy Jones was shown his and UNLV's first yellow of the night.

 

Niko Shumov had DSU's first shot of the game in the 16th minute, but his attempt was blocked, and DSU was still scoreless. DSU's AJ Ciampini was then shown yellow in the 18th minute for a mistimed tackle. After Ciampini's yellow, there was an altercation that led to UNLV's Skyler Goo being shown yellow.

 

Shumov had another clear chance on goal in the 24th minute, but he hit the ball from Jimi Villasenor high over the net. This was Shumov's second of four shots on the night. Shumov had an outstanding night and especially the first half for the Trailblazers.

 

In the 29th minute, Larsen Rogers had a great look, but UNLV's goalkeeper made the save at the near post. Shortly after, Billy Jones got his second yellow of the night and was ejected for a poor tackle on Blaine Chambers.

 

Then, in the 37th minute, Idris Alabi had a fantastic look off a pass from Villasenor, but the shot rang off the post and went out of bounds.

 

Lord was tested late in the half after UNLV's Chilo Sanchez hit a rocket just wide of Lord's net.

 

Headed into halftime, the scoreline showed 1-0, but the Trailblazers were anything but out of this game.

 

Just five minutes into the half, Daniel Brubaker had a good look at goal, and Jimi Villasenor hit a shot just wide of the left post. The Trailblazers could feel it in them that they were going to find the equalizer in this one.

 

In the 54th minute, Trevor Dillon was shown DSU's third yellow of the night. Brubaker answered two minutes later with a shot of his own that went high to the right side of the goal.

 

Finally, in the 58th minute, DSU captain Matt Lockwood broke the deadlock for the Trailblazers. For his second goal of the year, Lockwood tucked a goal in the top left corner and put DSU on the scoreboard, assisted by Dom Kossehasse.

 

UNLV was shown their second red card of the night and were forced to play with nine men for the final 27 minutes of the match, after already being down to 10 since the 18th minute of the game. UNLV's head coach was also shown yellow.

 

DSU responded to the UNLV cards with a shot from Villasenor that went just high. The Trailblazers were fighting for the winning goal now.

 

In the 68th minute, John Joseph was shown DSU's fourth yellow of the night. Moments later, Lockwood had another shot that was saved, once again keeping DSU from taking advantage in the match.

 

Matt Lockwood was shown DSU's final yellow card of the evening in the 73rd minute.

 

There was a lot of back and forth play for about 10 minutes before Niko Shumov found the back of the net for the Trailblazers. In the 86th minute, Larsen Rogers slalomed his way through the UNLV backline and got a cross off to the center of the box, where Shumov hit home the goal.

 

Then, just two minutes later, Jimi Villasenor got in on the goalscoring. After having near assists all night, he ran down the end line with the ball at his feet and struck home the final goal of the night from the top of the 18-yard box. Villasenor's goal finalized the 3-1 and season-ending win for the Trailblazers.

 

STAT BREAKDOWN: This is Dixie State's only three-goal game of the season. The goals came from captain Matt Lockwood, Niko Shumov, and Jimi Villasenor. Lockwood now has two goals on the 2021 season, with Shumov and Villasenor's being their firsts on the year. Matt Lockwood and Dom Kossehasse each registered an assist as well.

 

The Trailblazers outshot the Rebels 20 to nine with ten shots on goal, with the three goals. Lockwood led the team in shots with six, followed by Shumov's four and Idris Alabi's three. Dom Kossehasse, Villasenor, and Rogers each had two apiece, and Trevor Dillon had one.

 

Goalkeeper Levi Lord started in goal for DSU and played the full 90 minutes. He allowed just one goal off a penalty kick and registered one save in this match.

DSU was shown five yellow cards in this match. The yellows were shown to Lockwood, Dillon, Villasenor, John Joseph, and AJ Ciampini.

 

NOTES TO KNOW: 

Dixie State is now 4-13-1 to end the regular season. This is the final match of the season for the Trailblazers, and due to the team transitioning into Division I and the Western Athletic Conference, they will not be competing in the WAC men's soccer tournament, so their 2021 season is now finished.