Region 10 soccer: Dixie, Crimson Cliffs battle for supremacy, Desert Hills wins to keep pace

Written by E. George Goold
April 9, 2022

ST. GEORGE — Three Region 10 soccer teams won by shutout Friday night as frontrunners started to emerge in the chase for the championship.

Desert Hills survived at home against Snow Canyon while Crimson Cliffs and Dixie both posted convincing wins on the road.

The Flyers remained unbeaten at 9-0 overall and 7-0 in region play with five games left in the regular season.

Crimson Cliffs, at 8-2 and 5-2 respectively, is alone in second place chasing Dixie.

And there’s a handful of clubs in the pack behind the frontrunners that are capable of winning on any given night.

“Our region has not been this competitive in a while,” Desert Hills coach Benji Nelson told St. George News. “Every team is competing very well.”

Following are recaps of Region 10 soccer games this past week.

Friday’s games

Desert Hills 1, Snow Canyon 0

The Warriors and Thunder engaged in a classic game on the pitch. As the score indicates, both teams had chances and near misses that almost changed the outcome.

Snow Canyon at Desert Hills in a Region 10 soccer game, St. George, Utah, April 8, 2022 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

The Thunder tallied midway through the second half when Dan Simister won the ball on the far sideline and delivered a magnificent cross to Jaxon Resendez, who finished emphatically into a wide open net.

“We moved Dan out to the wing, he’s been playing more in the middle,” Thunder coach Benji Nelson said. “He’s got a great left foot. He took that ball down the line and beat everybody and then just layed it across perfectly, just like we practice.”

Snow Canyon responded by possessing the ball for much of the rest of the game. The Warriors had a couple of corner kicks and a couple of prime opportunities to find the equalizer, but Thunder goalkeeper Shayden Scott made the shutout stand.

“We made a change in goal,” Nelson said. “Don’t want to take away from the keeper we had in there, but Shayden Scott is a phenomenal field player. He had one or two saves that could have been goals, and that was really the difference.

“Both teams played very equal tonight, it was a great game,” he added.

Scott’s best effort came with less than five minutes to play. He deflected a challenging shot that came in from outside the box, then immediately had to save a point-blank rebound attempt that looked sure to find the net.

“Just some phenomenal saves,” Nelson said.

Desert Hills moved to fourth-place in Region 10 standings at 3-4 and is 5-5 overall on the season.

Meanwhile Snow Canyon slipped to fifth in the region at 2-4 and is 4-5 overall.

Crimson Cliffs 2, Pine View 0

Pine View goalkeeper Kaden Cox (77) makes a save in a Region 10 soccer game against Crimson Cliffs, St. George, Utah, April 8, 2022 | Photo by Anna Stringham, St. George News

The hard-charging Mustangs tallied once in each half and got a shutout from goalkeeper Dade MacDonald to secure the road win.

Senior Ryan Woolley continued his outstanding season, picking up three more points with a goal and an assist in the victory for the Mustangs.

Camden Squires scored the other marker for the winners and Owen Klingonsmith recorded an assist for Crimson Cliffs. The Mustangs won four corner kicks in the game.

MacDonald posted his eighth shutout of the season after he made three saves in the win.

Dixie 4, Cedar 0

At Dixie, the Flyers scored four late goals in the span of a few minutes in the second half to secure a 4-0 win over the Cedar Reds. Jorge Quintero scored twice and Oscar Rodriguez added another goal, while goalkeeper Carlos Diaz recorded the shutout.

Tuesday’s games

Dixie 6, Hurricane 0

The Flyers raced to victory over the Tigers with five goals in the first half and a single tally in the second half.

Tristan Yapi and Iker Meza each scored twice for Dixie. Andy Lagomarsino and Melvin Contreras scored the other two goals for the winners.

Yapi and Talon Leavitt each had an assist for Dixie while goalkeeper Carlos Diaz recorded the shutout win.

Crimson Cliffs 2, Desert Hills 0

Camden Squires and Eli Smith tallied for the winners, both goals coming the first half.

Dade MacDonald had the shutout in goal for the Mustangs.

Pine View 1, Cedar 0

Jared Casas scored the game’s only goal in the second half to propel the Panthers to victory.

Kaden Cox posted the shutout in goal for Pine View.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Eric George Goold came to St. George News from southwestern Colorado, where he was a radio news reporter. He has been a journalist for over 20 years in five different states. He graduated with a master's degree in English from Kansas State University and writes nonfiction as well. Goold has been published in Sunstone Magazine and has done multiple public readings about local history. When he has free time, he enjoys chess, movies and dogs.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews

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