ST. GEORGE — Thursday night was a sneak preview in what will be a very busy weekend in southern Utah on the diamonds and soccer pitches.

Dixie and Canyon View battled in a region-counting soccer match at DHS with the Flyers coming out on top, while Pine View battled Arbor View, Nev., and also emerged victorious. Pine View’s soccer squad dropped a non-league game to Skyline and there were also several softball games as the Region 9 ladies geared up for the approaching region season. Here’s a wrap up of Thursday night’s action.

BOYS SOCCER
Dixie 4, Canyon View 1

It was the only region game of the night and a tough Canyon View team put up a fight against the defending-champ Flyers. But Dixie shut the Falcons down in the second half to emerge with the win.

“This is the best Canyon View team since I’ve been here,” said Dixie’s Eldin Ramirez, who had a second-half goal. “This is the toughest they’ve ever played us.”

Dixie started the game with a 2-0 lead after goals by Casey Black and Colton Atkin. Black’s score came with 21:52 left until halftime and was a hard strike off of a loose ball in the box.

“No one was really on me,” Black said. “I was out at about the 20 and just ran in and the ball bounced off a Canyon View guy and I just kicked it in.”

With the score 1-0, Atkin struck on a goal that seemed impossible, considering he had to contend with three Canyon View defenders and the Falcons goalkeeper to get it in.

“It came to Francisco (Guzman) and I made a run across the back line,” Atkin said. “I just told him to tap it through and he played a great ball. I just hit it when it came across and somehow it went in.”

But the Falcons didn’t fold, despite the early 2-0 deficit. Canyon View keeper Ethan Sizemore held Dixie at bay and Jonathan Hernandez cut the lead in half with a strike off a corner kick to make it 2-1 with 7:01 left in the half.

The score would remain that way until a bizarre series of events with just over 24 minutes left in the game. The game had gotten physical and a 50/50 ball in Dixie’s defensive end went Dixie’s way, but the referee called a foul on the Flyers. The call set up a Canyon View free kick about 40 yards out, and though the Dixie defense quelled the score attempt, Flyers coach Burt Myers was upset enough with the call to ride the referee a bit longer. The result was a quick red card for the coach and a long lonely stroll to the Dixie locker room.

The game resumed as Myers began his long walk and by the time he had gotten to the end of the field, right by the CV goal, Av’ry Green had broken away from the defense and had a one-on-one with the Falcons goalie. With Myers just yards away, Green pounded home Dixie’s third goal at the 24:06 mark, drawing a fist pump from the expelled coach.

“I knew there was some history there between Burt and that ref,” Dixie assistant coach Travis Wilkison said. “With that in mind, I think even the slightest comment triggered the short fuse by the official. I think Coach was fishing for maybe a yellow card or a warning, but the ref went straight red on him. It surprised all of us.”

Dixie added an insurance goal with 2:15 left in the game. Tyler Bennett had just missed shot high, giving the Falcons a goal kick. Ramirez anticipated the CV goalie’s kick and stole the ball. he then started a give-and-go with Pepe Garcia.

“Pepe put the ball right where I wanted it,” Ramirez said. “It was such a great assist. I just had to swat it in with my left foot.”

Dixie, 3-1-1 overall and 2-0-0 in region play, allowed just the second goal of the season in the game off keeper Ethan Poulton. The Flyers will have to play their next game, a non-league home game against Lone Peak Friday night (7 p.m.) without Myers, who will sit it out after the red card. The official also red-carded a Dixie player after a comment was made during postgame handshakes.

The only other soccer action Thursday night was a Pine View loss to 4A Skyline at Panther Stadium.

BASEBALL
Pine View 6, Arbor View 5

Dakota Donovan pitched six scoreless innings and the Panthers survived a valiant comeback attempt by the Aggies to record the win.

Pine View, 3-2 on the season, had some tense moments late in the game, which was played at Dixie State’s Hurst Field. Leading 6-0 heading into the seventh, Arbor View put together a two-out rally. Hunter Hansen was on the mound and gave up a walk and two hit-batsmen to load the bases. Nick Quintana cleared them with a three-run double and clean-up hitter Ryan McHale followed with a two-run home run to make it 6-5.

But Hansen was able to end the threat on the next batter, inducing a fly out to right field from Ryan Fitzhugh to end the game.

Junior ace Donovan threw 98 pitches, two-thirds of which were strikes. He allowed just four hits and struck out seven Aggies.

The Panthers led 2-0 in the first inning on an RBI single by Harrison Goebel and a fielding error by AVHS that plated Ty Johnston and Brooks Barney.

Pine View made it 3-0 in the fourth after a triple by Hansen and an RBI groundout by Donovan.

Three very important insurance runs came in the bottom of the sixth. After two walks and a hit batsman, Blake Ence singled home a run to make it 4-0. An Aggie error made it 5-0 and the lead grew to 6-0 on a passed ball that allowed Donovan to score.

Pine View will battle American Fork at 9:30 a.m. Friday and has two games scheduled for Saturday. All three contests are at DSU. The Aggies took their first loss, falling to 5-1.

Stats: arbpv31215

SOFTBALL

Hurricane got an impressive win over 5A American Fork with an 8-7 final. Two other Region 9 teams, Pine View and Cedar, did not fare as well. The Panthers were beaten 19-4 by Uintah, while the Lady Reds fell 14-1 to Grantsville.

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