Region 9 soccer: Flyers keep winning, even with region title clinched

Written by Andy Griffin
April 22, 2015
File photo, Dixie goalkeeper Ethan Poulton dives for a save, Dixie vs. Snow Canyon, Soccer, St. George, Utah, Apr. 21, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — There’s a lot on the line in Region 9 soccer this last week of the season. One thing not up for grabs is which team is the best as Dixie showed no let-up Tuesday despite having already clinched the region title. The Flyers beat Snow Canyon, while Pine View took over second place with a win over Cedar and Hurricane slipped past Desert Hills in the game and in the standings Tuesday night.

It was a wild night of soccer action and here’s a recap of the night’s contests:

Dixie 2, Snow Canyon 1

Playing at home, the Warriors took a 1-0 lead into halftime, but couldn’t hold it in the loss to the defending state champs.

dixie-smsnow-canyon-smAv’ry Green, shirking off an injury, scored the equalizer with a penalty kick and Jose “Tauti” Morales put the Flyers on top.

Warrior goalkeeper Braydon Brough leaps as the ball flies past him for a Dixie goal, Dixie vs. Snow Canyon, Soccer, St. George, Utah, Apr. 21, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Warrior goalkeeper Braydon Brough leaps as the ball flies past him for a Dixie goal, Dixie vs. Snow Canyon, Soccer, St. George, Utah, Apr. 21, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

Casey Monson had the lone goal for the Warriors, who fell to 12-4-0 overall and 7-4-0 in region action, good enough for 21 points and third place. Even with the loss, Snow Canyon has clinched a playoff spot.

Dixie, which improves to 11-3-3 overall, is 10-1-1 in region and has completed its regular season. The Flyers will host a playoff game next week (Apr. 30) against the fourth place team from Region 10, Union. The Cougars have only played one Region 9 team this season, losing to Cedar 4-0 in early March. Dixie beat Cedar twice this season by a combined score of 7-1.

Pine View 6, Cedar 2

The two Michaels — Cardenas and Wade — scored two goals each as the Panthers romped to the home win.

Pine-view-smcedar-smWade, a senior, has amassed 33 career goals for Pine View, including 11 this season, third in the state in 3A. Cardenas has 21 career goals, including seven this season for PV.

Ethan Baer and Federico Resendis also scored for the Panthers, who led 5-0 at the half. It’s Baer’s second goal of the year and the fourth for Resendis.

Cedar got a pair of second-half tallies from Andrew Boyer and Matt Allen.

The Panthers are in second place in Region 9 with an 8-3-0 record (9-6-1 overall) and can clinch a home playoff game in the first round with a win Friday at Hurricane.

The Redmen are 2-12-1 overall and 1-10-0 in region and will close out the season Friday with a home game vs. Desert Hills.

Hurricane 2, Desert Hills 1

Hurricane moved into fourth place with one game remaining by edging the Thunder on their own field.

hurricane-smDesert-Hills-smMax Guterez put the Tigers on top very early in the game, but Kanon Heaton scored the equalizer on a breakaway just moments later and the game looked like it was going to be tied heading into intermission.

But Guterez struck again just before the time ran out to make it 2-1 and neither team could generate any offense after halftime.

The huge road win puts Hurricane (5-5-1) up by one point over Desert Hills (5-6-0) for fourth place. The Tigers have 16 points and will get the fourth playoff spot from Region 9 with a win at home Friday against Pine View. The Thunder have 15 points and need a win Friday at Cedar and a Hurricane loss or tie to get the playoff spot.

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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