Region 9 advanced three teams to the 3A quarterfinals Thursday, including Snow Canyon, which got a hard-fought road win up in Vernal. Unfortunately, the fourth-seeded Hurricane Tigers ran into a buzz saw in the top-ranked Juan Diego Soaring Eagle. Here’s a recap of the two road games:
Snow Canyon 3, Uintah 0
It was all defense in the first half and a good portion of the second half before the Warriors finally broke through on a goal by Axel Nino. He scored again late in the game and Angel Muniz also got on the board as Snow Canyon pulled away for the road victory.
It is the fifth and sixth goals of the year for Nino and Muniz notched his 12th tally of the season in the win.
The Snow Canyon defense was impressive, with goalkeeper Jose Camacho picking up the shutout, his fifth of the year. Uintah came into the game averaging nearly four goals a contest and had 3A’s top goal scorer in Hayden Bunderson, who has 20 on the season. Bunderson was marked all game long and came away empty for the Utes.
The Warriors, 14-4-0 on the season, move on to the state quarterfinals to take on Payson. The Lions, 9-4-2, beat Bear River 2-0 Thursday. PHS is the champion of Region 12. Snow Canyon and Payson will square off at 1 p.m. Saturday at PHS.
Uintah ends the year with a record of 10-7-1.
Juan Diego 4, Hurricane 0
The Tigers played JD even for the first 29 minutes before Julien Williamson finally broke the 0-0 tie with a breakaway goal .
It was still just 1-0 at the half, but the Region 10 champs, who have won nine of their last 10 games, splashed through two goals in the first eight minutes of the second half to start to pull away. Williamson added a late goal for the final margin.
Jordan Hendrickson recorded the shutout between the pipes for the Soaring Eagle, who improve to 12-2-1 on the season. Juan Diego will host region 11’s Grantsville Saturday at 1 p.m. in the 3A quarterfinals. The Cowboys, 9-5-0, were upset winners at Carbon Thursday by a 2-1 score.
Hurricane, which finished the season strong to earn a playoff spot on the last day of the regular season, ends the year with an 8-7-2 record.
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