Prep soccer: OT win puts Warriors in 1st place tie with Dixie

Written by Bob Hudson
April 5, 2016
Snow Canyon vs. Desert Hills, Soccer, St. George, Utah, Apr. 4, 2016, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – Dixie and Snow Canyon continue to pace the play in Region 9 as the Flyers and Warriors both improved to 3-0 with key wins Tuesday night in region soccer action. The Flyers won at Hurricane, while SC was able to protect its home field with an overtime thriller against Desert Hills. Pine View also picked up a win, edging Cedar in double overtime at CHS. Here’s a look at the night’s contests:

Snow Canyon 3, Desert Hills 2 (F/OT)

Yetzel Carillo broke free from the left side and blasted a shot past Isaiah Hacker with 8:56 remaining in the first overtime as Snow Canyon edged Desert Hills 3-2 at SCHS.

snow-canyon-logodesert-hills-logoAlthough they controlled the action early in the first half, the Warriors (3-0) fell behind just before halftime and had to come back repeatedly. Rocky Bunker scored on a cross from Jonny Rogers to give the Thunder (1-2) the lead with 45 seconds before intermission.

Angel Muniz scored on a header to enable the Warriors to level the score at 1-1 with 28:14 remaining.

Snow Canyon vs. Desert Hills, Soccer, St. George, Utah, Apr. 4, 2016, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Snow Canyon vs. Desert Hills, Soccer, St. George, Utah, Apr. 4, 2016, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

Desert Hills again took the lead on Kanon Heaton’s penalty kick with 19:39 remaining.

The teams battled back and forth, with Hacker and Warrior goalkeeper Quinn Hargin making stop after stop until Carillo scored his second goal with 1:54 remaining in regulation play.

“We had to start playing as a team and take better shots,” said Muniz, a team captain, of the Warriors’ reclaiming of momentum. “The penalty kick made us put more pressure on the other players.”

“We had our chances,” Snow Canyon assistant coach Nyle Ortiz said. “Even when we weren’t scoring, we were doing good things. I thought we had the better of the chances most of the game.

“We were proud of the guys for not getting too chippy,” Ortiz continued. He praised the play of Hargis and the back line, which included Branson Stafford, Adrian Torres, Parker Jenkins, Dallen Moody, Richard Vichi and Kolton Barber.

“We knew it was going to be a tough one,” said Desert Hills coach Benji Nelson. “They started stronger and the pace was fast and physical.

“We got a (red) card that put us a man down and that made a difference,” Nelson added.

That incident came with nine minutes left in regulation when a Thunder player pushed a Warrior player down hard on the Snow Canyon sideline.

Dixie 3, Hurricane 1

Hurricane’s Dan Brubaker scored early but Tauri Morales, Cristian Chavez and Av’ry Green responded for the Flyers (3-0) in the first half.

dixie-logohurricane-logo“Both teams exchanged shots but neither team could score on the keepers,” said Dixie coach Burt Myers.

“Our guys were slow to start with, but in the second half they started to click,” Hurricane coach Jeff Fry said of the Tigers (1-2).

“Tonight I really saw some things click and a renewed passion for the game,” Fry continued. “Defensively, Angel Bulloch really stepped up tonight, which is really helping us form our truest lineup. I’m excited to see if that is what will drum us up some more goal-scoring opportunities.”

Pine View 2, Cedar 1 (F/2OT)

pine-view-logocedar-logoAbe Brower gave Cedar (0-3) the lead, but Kalob Dudley scored for Pine View (1-2) with five minutes left to tie the score.

Dudley scored the game winner midway through the second overtime after Cedar went down a man.

The Region 9 standings have Dixie and Snow Canyon tied at 3-0, with three teams sitting at 1-2 — Desert Hills, Hurricane and Pine View. Cedar is 0-3.

Friday’s games in region play will include Cedar at Desert Hills, Hurricane at Snow Canyon and Pine View at Dixie.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @oldschoolag

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2016, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bob Hudson is a graduate of Brigham Young University. He has been a sportswriter in central and southern Utah and Southeast Idaho. He has also worked as a news editor and managing editor. He has lived in St. George since 2000.

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