Dixie State University men’s soccer team picked up their first win of the season after going 1-1 on the road this weekend.
The Trailblazers fell to Montana State Billings 0-1 Friday in the Third Annual Rimrock Men’s Soccer Classic despite outshooting the Yellowjackets 11-9.
MSBU scored the lone goal in the first half, and DSU couldn’t seem to find the net even with six shots on goal in regulation.
“Being a new coach and having a lot of new players [makes a difference],” head coach Tim Busen said. “We are starting to come together more each day and get a better feel for our identity.”
DSU started off strong in their second game against the University of Mary Marauders with two goals in the first half. The first goal was made by freshman forward Christian Hall in the 21st minute, and the second by freshman midfielder Jandir Porta in the 45th minute.
“It’s impressive seeing these freshmen stepping up,” said sophomore defender Ryan Gibb, an English major from Grand Junction, Colorado. “[These freshmen] give me hope that there is a bright future in DSU soccer.”
Busen said they have been rotating more players lately. He said they gave Hall his first start and he took advantage of the opportunity. Hall was effective and answered the call they needed, Busen said.
“[The team] came out strong and ready to win,” said Hall, a marketing major from Layton. “The energy and communication with the team was really good and we worked well together.”
Hall said he wanted to continue to do the great things he had done up to that point and that is what he focused on.
The momentum from the Trailblazer’s strong first half led to an even better second half as they netted three more goals, including two goals one minute apart; one by freshman forward Michael Cardenas, and the other by Porta.
Porta’s second goal put the game far out of the Marauders reach as the Trailblazer’s stampeded through to their first victory of the year with a final score of 5-0.
“We look at everything day-to-day and each day we make progress in the right direction,” Busen said. “Even though we didn’t necessarily get the results we wanted in the first three games, we did [get the results] the next game. I still feel like we’ve been making forward progress and that is our main focus for this season.”
DSU is 1-3 on the season and will return to DSU for their first home game of the season Sept. 17 against Northwest Nazarene University at 7:30 p.m.
