4A girls soccer playoffs: Dixie upsets Hurricane in 2OT; 3 favored teams win in 1st round

Mckell Williams of Dixie kicks the game-winning free kick near the end of the second overtime to defeat Hurricane 1-0, Hurricane, Utah, Oct. 10, 2020 | Photo by Jacqui Knighton, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — The state 4A high school girls soccer playoffs got underway Saturday afternoon, with five Region 9 teams seeing action in the first round (the region’s other three schools had byes due to their higher seeds).

Although three of Saturday’s games were blowouts in favor of the home team, the only match that pitted Region 9 teams against each other was closely contested, with Dixie edging Hurricane in double overtime.

The following are recaps of each of the four games, along with a gallery of photos from three of the matches:

Dixie 1, Hurricane 0 (2OT)

In a game that was deadlocked in a scoreless tie for nearly 98 minutes, the Dixie Flyers scored off a free kick by Mckell Williams near the end of the second overtime period, thereby eliminating region rival Hurricane.

Dixie players surround Mckell Williams after her game-winning free kick near the end of the second overtime to defeat Hurricane 1-0, Hurricane, Utah, Oct. 10, 2020 | Photo by Jacqui Knighton, St. George News

Although Dixie had beaten the Tigers both times they had played during the regular season, both of those games had also been close.

“We came out a bit flat today but kept battling to get this win,” said Dixie head coach Crystal Soderquist. “Katie Mills had a fantastic save in the upper corner in overtime, that gave some energy to our attack.”

“Mckell stepped up with a phenomenal shot to end the game with 2 minutes left in the second overtime,” Soderquist added.

Dixie’s, the overall 17th seed, will next travel to Ogden to face top-seeded Ogden in the second round. The contest is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Cedar 6, Tooele 0

At Cedar, the Reds saw five different players score as 14th-seeded Cedar rolled to a 6-0 shutout win over 19th-seeded Tooele.

Keana Tolman kicked in a shot from the front of the box in the 15th minute to give Cedar an early 1-0 lead. About 10 minutes later, Tolman scored again, this time on a penalty kick. Watch a video clip of the shot in the embedded tweet:

In the second half, Cedar added a goal from Logann Laws, off a nice assist from Sydney Craft in the corner. Jacey Messer added a similar score. Kenzie Slaughter kicked a high-arcing shot from about 25 yards out that sailed into the upper corner of the net. Craft later added a goal of her own to cap off the scoring.

Tooele at Cedar, Cedar City, Utah, Oct. 10, 2020 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Kelsie Oldroyd and Lindsey Brown shared credit for the shutout at goalkeeper, as Oldroyd moved to the offensive side for the last 27 minutes of the game.

“We played well today and really focused on getting high percentage shots,” said Cedar head coach Scott Kamachi. “The defense did a good job getting the shutout, and we were able to play a few more players today.”

Cedar advances to face third-seeded Ridgeline at Millville in a second round game Wednesday at 4 p.m.

“We know Ridgeline will be tough but we look forward to the challenge,” Kamachi said.

Crimson Cliffs 7, Ben Lomond 0

Ben Lomond at Crimson Cliffs, Washington City, Utah, Oct. 10, 2020 | Photo courtesy of Stan Plewe, St. George News

At Crimson Cliffs, the 12th seeded Mustangs shut out the Ben Lomond Scots, 7-0. Kate Young scored three goals and also had an assist. Also for the Mustangs, Jantzyn Losee added two goals and Alissa Stelter and Riley Mitchell each made one goal. Goalkeeper Ellie Nielsen earned the shutout.

“We had a good week of practice and I felt like this game was a great tune-up for what we needed to work on for our next state playoff game,” Crimson Cliffs coach Andy Yergensen said.

Despite the Mustangs’ No. 12 seed, Crimson Cliffs was 8-6 during the Region 9 regular season, tying them with Canyon View for the second-best region record.

For their second-round game Wednesday, the Mustangs will travel to Tooele County to face the No. 5 seeded Stansbury Stallions, with the contest scheduled to start at 4 p.m.

Snow Canyon 4, Bear River 1

At Snow Canyon, the 13th-seeded Warriors scored twice in each half to defeat 20th-seeded Bear River.

Lilly Wittwer scored first, off an assist from Jadyn Reber, which was followed by an Ashlee Nyberg scoring off a rebound from a cross. 

In the second half, Nyberg scored again on a penalty kick to make it 3-0, after which Bear River got on the board with an own goal knocked in by a Warrior player. A few minutes later, Wittwer added her second goal of the game, on an assist from Tessa Thornton.

Solid win this afternoon for our girls,” Snow Canyon coach Kenny Kunde said. “Good to get that first win and we’re excited to be headed to Logan next week.”

Snow Canyon’s second-round game is scheduled for Wednesday at 4 p.m., when they will face the 4th-seeded Grizzlies at Logan High.

Second-round games to feature other Region 9 teams

The three Region 9 teams that had byes on Saturday will play second-round playoff games Wednesday at 4 p.m. Two of them will face each other.

Region champion Desert Hills, the No. 7 seed, will take on region rival Pine View, the 10th seed, at Desert Hills. Desert Hills won both regular-season games against the Panthers, most recently prevailing in an Oct. 1 contest at Pine View that ended 2-2 after two overtimes, following which the Thunder edged the Panthers 8-7 in the deciding penalty-kick shootout.

Additionally, the Canyon View Falcons, the tournament’s No. 6 seed, will play at home against the 11th-seeded Mountain Crest Mustangs.

Click here to see the full 4A soccer state tournament bracket.

Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2020, all rights reserved.

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