Duckworth saves the day as Pine View, Dixie play to 2-2 draw

Pine View's Firew Kuma (6), Pine View vs. Dixie, Soccer, St. George, Utah, Mar. 29, 2018, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – As far as epic performances go, it wasn’t perfect. But Pine View goalkeeper Ryley Duckworth was pretty darn good in helping the underdog Panthers come away with a 2-2 overtime tie against heavily-favored Dixie Thursday night. Duckworth had 18 saves and held the high-scoring Flyers off the scoreboard for the last 30 minutes of regulation and both 10-minute overtimes.

“(Duckworth) played outstanding – he had a game of a lifetime,” Dixie coach Burt Myers said. “It was a typical Pine View-Dixie matchup and Pine View gave us their best and it was good enough to do what happened. I mean, we had 20 shots on frame and their goalie saved them.”

Pine View’s Ryley Duckworth (1), Pine View vs. Dixie, Soccer, St. George, Utah, Mar. 29, 2018, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

Dixie went into the match unbeaten and untied on the year, while Pine View had just picked up its first win of the region season on Tuesday. And the Flyers had 1-0 and 2-1 leads. But the pesky Panthers just kept making plays.

“Our chemistry is starting to come together,” said Pine View coach Ryan Duckworth (Ryley’s dad). “We were missing a few pieces early in the season, but they’re now in place and I think the chemistry is working.”

It also helped that Ryley Duckworth and the Pine View defense kept the Dixie scorers at bay most of the night.

“We just wanted 100 percent effort tonight, no matter what happened,” Ryley Duckworth said. “If they score, doesn’t matter. Keep your heads up. We kept fighting back and I can’t thank my defense enough. I survived, but not without my defense.”

The game was tied 1-1 at intermission, with first-half goals by Josh Stewart (Dixie) and Kelvin Armenta (Pine View). But it looked like the Flyers would pull off the road win when Oscar Quintero scored on a penalty kick early in the second half. As the minutes ticked away, the Panthers needed a big play and Firew Kuma came up with the equalizer with 3:14 left in regulation.

In the two extra 10-minute overtime periods, both teams had chances, with Dixie keeping the ball for much of the extra time. But Duckworth came up aces once again and the final seconds ticked off without the tie being broken.

“It was a Pine View-Dixie matchup,” Myers said. “They rose to the occasion, we both played hard, and it was a great soccer match.”

Dixie is now in a tie with Snow Canyon for first place at 4-0-1 in region play. Pine View is 1-3-1 and trails Desert Hills by three points for the fourth-place slot. Pine View is at Canyon View at 4 p.m. next Tuesday, while Dixie hosts Desert Hills at 7 p.m.

Thursday night’s result
Pine View 2, Dixie 2 (F/2OT)

Region 9 boys soccer standings (region, points, overall)
Dixie  4-0-1, 13, 6-0-1
Snow Canyon  4-0-1, 13, 4-0-3
Canyon View  3-2-0, 9, 4-2-2
Desert Hills  2-1-1, 7, 4-2-1
Pine View  1-3-1, 4, 2-6-1
Cedar  0-4-0, 0, 1-5-0
Hurricane  0-4-0, 0, 0-7-0

Friday’s games
Desert Hills at Canyon View, 4 p.m.
Cedar at Hurricane, 7 p.m.

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Twitter: @oldschoolag

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.

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