4A soccer playoffs: Desert Hills, Dixie advance to quarterfinals with 1st-round wins

Cedar at Dixie, 4A girls soccer playoffs, St. George, Utah, Oct. 13, 2021 | Photo by Jacqui Knighton, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — Wednesday’s opening round of the high school 4A girls soccer playoffs featured two games that pitted Region 10 teams against each other. Desert Hills, the 10th seed, pulled off an upset at No. 7 Snow Canyon, while No. 6 Dixie prevailed at home over 11th-seeded Cedar in a contest that went to a shootout after two overtime periods.

Meanwhile, Crimson Cliffs, the top-seeded team in the single-elimination tournament, had a bye on Wednesday and will face Logan in the quarterfinal round on Saturday. Logan, the No. 8 seed, shut out No. 9 Pine View 3-0 at Logan on Wednesday.

One other Region 10 team was also eliminated Wednesday, as Hurricane fell at Sky View by a score of 4-0.

A brief recap of the two local first-round games follows, along with a look Saturday’s quarterfinal matchups, which are scheduled to start at 1 p.m. at the home fields of the higher-seeded schools.

Dixie 1, Cedar 1 (Dixie wins shootout 5-4)

At Dixie High, both teams scored in the first half of regulation, then stayed scoreless throughout the second half and both 10-minute overtime periods. In the ensuing penalty kick shootout, the Flyers made all five of their shots, while Cedar’s fifth attempt went over the top crossbar above the outstretched arms of Dixie goalkeeper Monet Rogers.

Dixie goalkeeper Monet Rogers stops a shot vs. Cedar during 4A girls soccer playoffs, St. George, Utah, Oct. 13, 2021 | Photo by Jacqui Knighton, St. George News

McKell Williams scored Dixie’s first-half goal, while Rylan Tebbs scored Cedar’s.

“I’m proud of the girls for fighting through some struggles, keeping their head,” said Dixie coach Crystal Soderquist, who added that she was also proud of her players for “stepping up to the PK’s, having confidence in themselves and putting them away.”

The sixth-seeded Flyers advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals, where they’ll travel to Ridgeline to face the third-seeded Riverhawks at Millville.

Desert Hills 3, Snow Canyon 0

At Snow Canyon, the 10th-seeded Desert Hills Thunder upset the No. 7 Warriors in a shutout victory. Ellie Hendrix scored one goal and assisted on the other two, which were kicked in by Kooper Dennison and Olivia Simon.

The two teams had split their regular season meetings, with each winning at home.

“Region 10 is always a tough region,” said Desert Hills coach Benji Nelson. “Any team can beat any other program on any given night.”

Nelson said “everything seemed to fall into place” for his team against Snow Canyon on Wednesday.

“We’re a young team with only three seniors and three juniors on varsity,” he said. It’s been fun to watch the girls come together and improve each week.”

The goal at the end of the regular season is to peak as a team and come together, hopefully, to play your best soccer and give the girls a chance to play for the state title,” Nelson added.

Desert Hills advances to play No. 2 seed Mountain Crest at Hyrum on Saturday.

To see the full 4A playoff bracket, click here.

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