DSU men’s soccer begins Josh Pittman era with victory over Metro State University

ST. GEORGE – The Dixie Men’s Soccer Team came out strong in the second game of the Dixie State Invitational beating Metropolitan State University of Denver 5-2. The Red Storm put up four goals in the first half, and the Roadrunners were unable to overcome the deficit to lose their first season opener in nine years.

dsulogoMSU-Den controlled the game early in the midfield. In the seventh minute the Red Storm made a counter attack on the Roadrunners’ left flank. Santiago Alejandro crossed the box from the right side and found a trailing Gabby Medina for the first goal of the game. “We try to have two men in the box on the attack,” said Dixie head coach Josh Pittman. “Gabby was the second man through and it was a great pass from Santiago.”

Nine minutes later Alex Galvan scored off a free kick around the Roadrunner wall on the right side from 25 yards out to give the Storm a quick 2-0 lead.

Just past the 28-minute mark MSU-Den got on the board when Dustin Berg scored straight away from 20 yards.

Five minutes later Brian Baugh found Jorge Echavarria with a throw-in. The Dixie team captain took the throw and headed the ball from eight yards on the right side. Just seconds before halftime Baugh assisted on a second header to the back post from Frankie Mallek to put Dixie up 4-1.

“That goal was key to the win,” said Pittman. “MSU had midfield control for most of the match. That goal gave us a commanding lead coming out for the second half.”

Twenty minutes into the second half the Roadrunners got a penalty kick for a foul in the box. Berg collected his second goal of the match with the penalty kick.

The final goal of the match came from Alejandro as he dribbled into the box and got a shot past goalkeeper Jorge Vega.

“Our defense played very well,” said Pittman. “Hunter Ketterer, Bryan Baugh and Jorge Echavarria played great. Bradley Trella was outstanding on goal and Santiago Alejandro was all over the field with his hustle.”

The game started late due to overtime in the first game, a 1-1 tie between MSU-Billings and CSU-San Marcos. Dixie begins the season 1-0 and will play CSU-San Marcos this Sunday at 8:00 p.m.

Twitter: @oldschoolag

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2015, all rights reserved.

 

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