Who needs preseason: Panthers, Warriors start region soccer play with wins

Written by Andy Griffin
March 3, 2015
Pine View vs. Desert Hills, Boys Soccer, St. George, Utah, Mar. 3, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — In a strange twist of the schedule, four Region 9 teams started their seasons with region contests, with two of the four coming away happy after opening wins Tuesday night.

There are several “preseason” games Thursday night, but with a short amount of time to squeeze in 12 region games (plus the jamming in of Spring Break and other off days), it became necessary to get a region game or two in early this season. The Panthers and Warriors were happy with the early league contests, with Pine View grabbing a 3-2 win at Desert Hills and Snow Canyon whitewashing the Tigers at home, 5-0.

Pine View 3, Desert Hills 2 (F/OT)

Sergio Diaz scored the game-winner in overtime on a night when the Panthers, the defending region champs, had to stage a huge rally.

Pine-view-smDesert-Hills-smDesert Hills looked to be cruising to a win on its home field with two unmatched first-half goals. Blake Evens and Tanner Browning each found the back of the net to put the Thunder ahead 2-0 at intermission.

Desert Hills' Christian Cottle and Pine View's Kennedy Taylor (6) battle for the ball, Pine View vs. Desert Hills, Boys Soccer, St. George, Utah, Mar. 3, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Desert Hills’ Christian Cottle and Pine View’s Kennedy Taylor (6) battle for the ball, Pine View vs. Desert Hills, Boys Soccer, St. George, Utah, Mar. 3, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

But Pine View rallied in the second half, with Kaleb Dudley and Michael Wade each pound home scores to force the extra time.

In the overtime, Diaz wriggled free for the game-winner to give the Panthers their third goal of the game and the three points for the victory. DH, which missed the playoffs by just three points last season, will get a chance to avenge the loss at Pine View on Apr. 10.

Pine View’s next action is Thursday at home against 5A Alta, with kickoff set for 3 p.m. Desert Hills also plays Thursday with a 3 p.m. game vs. Tooele.

Snow Canyon 5, Hurricane 0

It was all Warriors in the rain Tuesday night as five different SC players scored in the rout.

snow-canyon-smhurricane-smSnow Canyon built a 3-0 advantage in the first half behind goals from Yetzel Carrillo, Angel Muniz and Kevin Guevara Chillin.

The Warriors then put the game away in the second half with net-busters by Branson Stafford and Joaquin Flores.

SC, which finished in third last season in Region 9, joins Pine View in first at the moment. The Warriors will play a non-league game vs. Beaver Thursday at 3 p.m. at SCHS.

Hurricane,which went 3-9-0 last season and missed the playoffs, will try for its first win Thursday night, 7:30 p.m., against Carbon at HHS.

Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery. 

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @oldschoolag

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

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andy Griffin has been in sports media since 1989 and has covered BYU, Utah State and the Utah Jazz as well as all sports in southern Utah. A journalism graduate of USU, Andy has carried on a dual career as both a sports writer and a sports broadcaster and has been heard around the country. He has also been published in USA Today, Sport magazine, The Sporting News, Fairways magazine, the Los Angeles Times and locally in the Deseret News, the Salt Lake Tribune and the Spectrum. Andy was “The Voice of Region 9 sports,” for many years. He also hosted a daily sports talk show for three years called AG in the a.m. Andy has been married to his college sweetheart Shelly for 28 years and has five children ages 13 to 25.

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