Prep soccer: SC Warriors still unbeaten with road shutout

Written by Jordan Abel
April 19, 2017
Pine View's Rhett Taylor (33), Pine View vs. Snow Canyon, Soccer, St. George, Utah, Apr. 18, 2017, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – Snow Canyon didn’t hold back against Pine View as the first-place Warriors won in shutout fashion 4-0 Tuesday night at Panther Stadium.

Snow Canyon scored early and often to go up 3-0 by halftime, finishing at the net to put the game in its favor well before intermission.

“We came out strong and scored three (goals) in the first 20 minutes,” SC head coach Marc Wittwer said. “It was good to see the boys finish shots early tonight.”

PV head coach Ryan Duckworth said he he knew his team had a big challenge with the unbeaten Warriors.

Snow Canyon’s Kolton Barber (22), Pine View vs. Snow Canyon, Soccer, St. George, Utah, Apr. 18, 2017, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

“We played a really good team tonight. There’s a reason why they’re undefeated,” he said. “We made some early mistakes that put us in the hole, and we just couldn’t find our rhythm to get back into it. We had an off night and everyone knows that. The Panthers were not ready to play tonight.”

Quinn Hargis recorded the shutout, but Wittwer was really impressed with his back defensive line.

“(Our) defense was awesome as always,” Wittwer said. “Our back line – Adrian Torres, Kadin Dorius, Avery Schmutz and Zachary Hatfield – did an outstanding job of shutting down Pine View’s attack and earning the shutout.”

Richard Vichi scored two goals (first and last) for the Warriors, both assisted by Yetzel Carillo. Kaden Wittwer scored the second goal on a Ben Kemp assist, and Dillon Hargis scored the third goal off an assist from Max Kemp.

The win keeps Snow Canyon out in front of everyone else in the region with 19 points. Pine View is holding on to that fourth spot, which includes a playoff berth, with six points, just ahead of Cedar and Hurricane, who are still tied at four points.

Pine View’s Firew “Kai” Kuma (4) and Snow Canyon’s Adrian Torres (3), Pine View vs. Snow Canyon, Soccer, St. George, Utah, Apr. 18, 2017, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

“Tonight after the game we talked a lot about the fire that is required at this stage of the season,” Duckworth said. “Being in the position we are in with the three of us duking it out for that last seed. It’s going to really come down to our desire to put forth the effort that is needed to make the playoffs.”

Snow Canyon will be looking forward to its next match against Dixie, which earned a tie against SC and is the only blemish on the otherwise perfect Warriors record. The match is set for a Friday 7:30 p.m. kickoff.

“We played them well last time, we just need to finish,” Wittwer said. “We’ll just attack as a team. Hopefully someone steps up and gets a couple in. If we’re moving and working hard, we’ll get them.”

Pine View will travel to Desert Hills to take on a Thunder team trying to stay close enough to Snow Canyon and Dixie to possibly make a year-end strike. That match is also set for Friday at 7:30 p.m.

“Desert Hills is another good team in the region,” Duckworth said. “What we spoke about with the boys tonight is that we need to figure out how to beat good teams. If we hold on to the fourth-place spot, we’re going to have to figure out how to beat the good teams. We had a close match against Dixie, we consider them a good team. We have to step the tempo, we need to strike first rather than try to dig ourselves out of a hole.”

Dixie 2, Cedar 1

Dixie came from behind once again against Cedar to win with the same score as the first game, 2-1.

Cedar scored first thanks to Abe Brower. That score held through halftime.

Dixie’s Jose Morales and Kian Rocha scored a goal each to claim the victory in the second half.

Dixie will play its rematch against Snow Canyon, this time on the road Friday. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

Cedar has the rest of the week off from games, but is back at Pine View next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

Desert Hills 5, Hurricane 1

The Thunder led 3-0 at the half, but continued to put the hurt on the Tigers in the second half to win big.

Bryant McCoy, Garrett Cottle and Kelton Holt helped the Thunder take the big lead into halftime. Walker Heaton and Will Schroeder each scored a goal in the second half for the Thunder.

The Tigers’ Dan Brubaker scored his eighth goal of the season.

Desert Hills will host Pine View next with a Friday match at 7:30 p.m.

Hurricane will take the rest of the week off from games and play at Dixie next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

REGION 9 SOCCER STANDINGS
(team, region, points, overall)
Snow Canyon 6-0-1 (19) 10-2-1
Dixie 5-1-1 (16) 9-2-2
Desert Hills 5-2-0 (15) 9-4-0
Pine View 2-5-0 (6) 3-9-0
Hurricane 1-6-1 (4) 3-8-1
Cedar 1-6-1 (4) 3-11-1

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @oldschoolag

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2017, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jordan Abel started writing at Dixie State University for the Dixie Sun News in 2013, where he also became the sports editor for a semester before moving to Cedar City. He has also written for The Spectrum & Daily News, University Journal at Southern Utah University and now St. George News. He is currently attending Southern Utah University and pursuing a degree in pharmacy. Journalism has become a passion for him as he pursues his studies in another field. Jordan married Kaylee, a former Pine View and current SUU cross-country and track runner, in 2014.

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