Dixie State men's soccer saw a thrilling 1-0 win over the University of California San Diego in the season's opener. The lone goal was scored by Daniel Brubaker in the 73' minute and assisted by Gian Gargurevich and Duncan McKenna.

WHAT HEAD COACH JONNY BROADHEAD SAID: "It's a big win. It's the first game of the year and you want to start off on the right spot. I'm really happy with the goal we scored, and the composure, the quality. We've worked hard for a couple weeks in preseason and we want this to start out well. Shutout soccer is huge. They didn't have much on goal and so I really have not much to complain about. There's always little things but we address those and we played shutout soccer. We were better in their box than they were in ours and that's how you win games."

HOW IT HAPPENED: The first half was packed with end-to-end play where both teams saw split possession, and neither team could find an edge. 

The Trailblazers fought to get an edge, though, and Larsen Rogers registered a shot that was blocked at the top of the six-yard box. Heading into halftime, these teams were still deadlocked at zero.

Out of the halftime break, the Trailblazers brought the energy. Just a minute into the half Tony Foulger registered the first shot of the seven in the second half. His shot was saved, but this gave the Trailblazers the edge they needed to continue in an intense match.

Larsen Rogers got a shot in the 59,' and at this point, DSU was knocking on the Tritons door to find the opening goal. 

13 minutes later, Daniel Brubaker broke through. Gian Gargurevich sent a beautiful ball to the head of Duncan McKenna, who found Brubaker running through the six-yard box, and Brubaker put the goal away.

"Gian just played a good ball to Duncan and I knew Duncan was going to get it into me," Brubaker said. "I just tried to get myself into a good position for the knockdown and luckily I put it into the back of the net."

Brubaker'sBrubaker's goal would be the deciding factor in this game, and the Trailblazers saw out the 1-0 victory despite an intense and physical last quarter-hour of the matchup with the Tritons.

STAT BREAKDOWN: Goalkeeper Jakob Moore was able to record the shutout for the Trailblazers in the season opener. This is Moore's second shutout for the Trailblazers.

Julian Herrera, Dominique Kossehasse, Trevor Dillon, and Larsen Rogers all played 90 minutes and helped keep this shutout for the team and held the Tritons to just six shots.

Larsen Rogers and Duncan McKenna lead the team in shots with two apiece, but the Trailblazers saw eight shots in this one with three on target. There were six different Trailblazers that registered shots in this one.

NOTES TO KNOW: This was DSU's first-ever win over UCSD, who just transitioned into the Big West Conference and are in the second year of their transition.

Brubaker's goal was the first of the 2021 season for DSU and was his fourth goal as a Trailblazers.

UP NEXT: The Trailblazers will have one more match at home before heading on a five-game road trip through Sept. 19. The Trailblazers will face California Baptist University, a non-conference game against another transitioning Western Athletic Conference school, on Aug. 29. The kick-off is set for 7:30 PM.