Dixie, D-Hills draw, leaving victorious Warriors alone in 1st place

Dixie's Kieran Atkin (00), Dixie vs. Desert Hills, Boys Soccer, St. George, Utah, Apr. 3, 2018, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – Snow Canyon seized the reins of Region 9 soccer with a big win at Cedar Tuesday. The Warriors own first place by two points after Dixie and Desert Hills played to a 2-2 double overtime draw at Flyer Field. That sets up a huge match between the second-place Flyers and Snow Canyon Friday night at Dixie High School.

Meanwhile, Pine View is making a playoff push, having gone unbeaten the past three matches, including Tuesday’s 3-0 road win at Canyon View. Here’s a look at all the action:

Dixie 2, Desert Hills 2 (F/2OT)

Less than three weeks ago, the Flyers romped into Thunder Stadium and bashed D-Hills 4-0. This time, though Dixie led 1-0 at halftime and held a 2-1 lead late in the game, the Thunder were able to gut out a critical tie to earn a point in the standings for the two teams.

“Both teams had people play well. It was a great game,” said Dixie coach Burt Myers. “In fact, every player on both teams made big plays. It was a good game, a really good game.”

Dixie’s Anthony De paz (19), Dixie vs. Desert Hills, Boys Soccer, St. George, Utah, Apr. 3, 2018, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

Xavi Flores produced the only goal of the first 40 minutes, but the strike put the Flyers ahead 1-0 at intermission. Desert Hills tied it at 1-1 early in the second half when Walker Heaton was tackled in the goal box and scored on the subsequent penalty kick.

Dixie surged ahead once again as Trey Hoskins blasted one home to make it 2-1. Then came a little bit of controversy as Heaton again went down in the box. After watching it on film after the game, Myers said the play did not warrant a penalty kick.

“That was gamesmanship, not sportsmanship,” Myers said. “There wasn’t a foul on the play. It was a great match. It’s a shame the officials had to play such a big part in the outcome.”

Heaton converted on the PK to tie the game and neither team could score to end regulation or in either 10-minute overtime.

The tie helps the Thunder (5-2-2 and 3-1-2), who inch one more point ahead of Canyon View for third place. For Dixie (6-0-2 and 4-0-2), which started the night in a tie for first place with Snow Canyon, second place is where the Flyers sit now. Dixie hosts the Warriors Friday night at Flyer Stadium.

The Thunder will travel to Hurricane and meet the Tigers on Thursday night.

Snow Canyon 9, Cedar 1

The afternoon game in Cedar City was all Warriors as SC led 6-1 at halftime and the mercy rule threshold was reached in the second half.

The 1-2 punch of Yetzel Carrillo and Ben Kemp continued to excel as the SC stars scored two goals each. Kemp now has eight on the season (in eight matches) and Carrillo is second on the team with seven.

Also scoring for Snow Canyon were Dillon Hoskins, Sanders Esplin, Brett Gonzalez and Jacob Wittwer. SC also benefitted from an own goal by Cedar, but returned the favor for the Redmen before halftime.

“We started a little slow, but it went well once we got things going,” Warriors coach Marc Wittwer said. “Shawn Keetch played an excellent game getting some overlaps on the outside. It was the best weather we’ve ever had in Cedar City.”

Snow Canyon, 5-0-3 overall and 5-0-1 in region, is two points ahead of Dixie in the standings (see below) for first place. The Warriors are at Dixie Friday night. Cedar, 0-6-0 and 1-7-0, will host Pine View.

Pine View 3, Canyon View 0

It was pretty much a must-win situation for the playoff-hopeful Panthers and they came up with a big shutout on the road.

The Panthers scored all three of their goals in the first half, the first one coming at the 18-minute mark. Goalkeeper Ryley Duckworth made the sizable lead stand up by recording another shutout, his second of the season.

The Panthers are 2-0-1 in their last three matches and are making a push for the playoffs. However, Pine View (3-6-1 overall and 2-3-1 in region) still trails Canyon View (4-4-2 and 3-4-0) by two points in the standings.

The Panthers are at last-place Cedar Friday, while Canyon View has a bye and resumes action next Tuesday with a match at Hurricane.

Tuesday night’s results
Dixie 2, Desert Hills 2 (F/2OT)
Snow Canyon 9, Cedar 1
Pine View 3, Canyon View 0

Region 9 boys soccer standings (region, points, overall)
Snow Canyon  5-0-1, 16, 5-0-3
Dixie  4-0-2, 14, 6-0-2
Desert Hills  3-1-2, 11, 5-2-2
Canyon View  3-4-0, 9, 4-4-2
Pine View  2-3-1, 7, 3-6-1
Hurricane  1-4-0, 3, 1-7-0
Cedar  0-6-0, 0, 1-7-0

Thursday’s game
Desert Hills at Hurricane, 7 p.m.

Friday’s games
Pine View at Cedar, 4 p.m.
Snow Canyon at Dixie, 7 p.m.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @oldschoolag

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

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.