Dixie State men’s and women’s soccer both came up short on the road for third consecutive loss.
Both teams are preparing to begin Pacific West Conference play next week.
Women’s soccer
After starting strong with a win and a tie at home, DSU lost its third straight game on its road trip. The loss came in a rematch with Cal Poly Pomona, which DSU beat in the reverse fixture at Hansen Stadium Sept. 6.
The offense was held to only three shots with only one on goal. The Red Storm have been out-shot in every game this season except in their one victory.
“Once we got into the offensive third near their goal, we couldn’t hold the ball,” said midfielder Kaisa Rogers, a junior communication major from Springville. “We kept giving the ball away, so we couldn’t get our shots off.”
The highlight for the DSU women came from junior goalkeeper Stacie Gubler. She had nine saves from 11 shots.
“Stacie was definitely the MVP of that game,” Rogers said. “The game would have been a lot worse if she didn’t play so well.”
The first goal came early in the third minute of play, where DSU was able to hold Cal Poly until the last five minutes of the game before giving up the second goal.
“We need to finish our scoring opportunities,” Rogers said. “We need to stay together as a unit and work on our team chemistry.”
DSU plays its next game Monday against California State University, Dominguez Hills. Dominguez Hills is winless in its first four games of the season.
Men’s soccer
With a 3-1 loss to Northwest Nazarene, DSU is still winless in 2014.
“We did a lot of things very well offensively,” head coach Danny Ortiz said. “We put a lot of pressure on them and had plenty of shots on goal. Today was just a little set-back since we were unable to capitalize.”
DSU had 12 shots with six on goal while Nazarene had 14 with six on goal.
The game was close throughout as defender Jorge Echavarria, a junior from Las Vegas, put DSU on top after 20 minutes of play.
Nazarene countered quickly, tying the game a minute later on a corner kick.
The game was tied 1-1 at the half and stayed that way until Nazarene gained the lead in the 68th minute. DSU gave up the third goal on a breakaway in the last minute of play.
“The players have the ability to win,” Ortiz said. “Today was just one of those days where the goal meets the ball too much. Like I said, I still believe we have the players that can give us the wins we are looking for.”
DSU will return home to open up Pac West Conference play Saturday against California Baptist University.
