ST. GEORGE – A month ago, Desert Hills was at its lowest, falling to 3-2 in region after being embarrassed 4-0 by rival Pine View on a cool March evening. Thirty days later, the weather’s considerably warmer and the Thunder are too, so much so that they just grabbed the Region 9 championship.
Justin Brinkerhoff scored the lone goal and Vincent Enfield recorded his 10th shutout of the season as Desert Hills beat Snow Canyon 1-0 and earned its third region championship in its five years of existence.
Dixie, the defending region and state champions, could have clinched the title last night, but lost to Pine View, leaving the door open for the Thunder to snatch the title away. DH, with a region record of 9-2-1, edges the Flyers (9-3-0) by a single point.
More importantly, the Thunder are the hottest team in the state, having gone 6-0-1 in their last seven matches. That’s a streak that should carry into the state playoffs, which begin next Thursday. The Thunder will host Morgan, the fifth-place team from Region 11.
Dixie, which was tops in the region in defense, allowing just seven goals in 12 region games, will settle for second place, but will get a first round home game against Delta Thursday night.
Pine View’s 8-3-1 region record (25 points) was good enough for third place. The Panthers will travel to Payson, the No. 2-seed from Region 12.
Cedar 4, Hurricane 1
The Redmen clinched fourth place and the final playoff spot from Region 9 with the easy win against the Tigers. Cedar got goals from Brett Sillitoe, Brock Shipp, jace Einfeldt and Michael Briano in the romp.
Cedar finishes the regular season 9-6-1 overall and 6-6-0 in region (18 points), five points ahead of both Snow Canyon and Hurricane. The Redmen will hit the road for a Thursday playoff game at Spanish Fork.
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