ST. GEORGE — The three first-round 4A boys soccer playoff games staged in St. George on Tuesday afternoon all ended in decisive wins for the home teams.

Fourth-seeded Desert Hills gave up an early goal to 13th seed Bear River, but the Thunder ended up rolling to an 8-1 victory.

At Snow Canyon, the No. 6-seeded Warriors shut out the 11th-seeded Hurricane Tigers, 7-0.

And at Pine View, the eighth-seeded Panthers pulled away late to defeat the ninth-seeded Cedar Reds, 6-3.

See recaps of all three local games below. Top-seeded Crimson Cliffs and No. 2 Dixie both had byes on Tuesday but will host games on Thursday afternoon as the 4A playoffs continue. Click here to see the full bracket.

Pine View 6, Cedar 3

At Pine View, the Panthers scored three straight goals in the first half to take an early 3-0 lead over Cedar. 

The first goal came on a free kick from the right wing about 10 minutes into the contest, with Jonathan Porter drilling the kick to the front of the net, where it was knocked in by senior Austin Kogan.

Then, about three minutes later, Pine View’s Jesus Hernandez took a pass from teammate Jared Casas from the left side and kicked it in from close range, making it 2-0.

Late in the first half, Kogan scored again, this time on a penalty kick.

Despite being down by three goals, Cedar rallied to within one, with Levi Humphries scoring for the Reds late in the first half and Tylan Murray netting a breakaway goal in the second minute of the second half to make it 3-2.

“It’s hard to keep a good team down,” Pine View head coach Ryan Duckworth said of Cedar’s efforts to get back in the game.

However, as the second half wore on, Pine View was able to add a couple more insurance goals to keep its lead safe. First, Hayden Blaisdell scored off an assist by Kanyon Dickinson. Then, Alexander Navas found the back of the net unassisted to give the Panthers a healthy 5-2 lead. 

Late in the game, after Pine View’s starting goalkeeper Kaden Cox had been substituted out of the game by reserve goalie Kimball Swift, Cedar’s Carden Murray made a penalty kick for the Reds.

The scoring wrapped up with about 30 seconds left in the contest when Pine View’s Estevan Laguna added one last tally for the Panthers to account for the final score of 6-3.

“I don’t know if strategy really had anything to do with this particular game,” Duckworth said. “I think this was more about the focus of the team and what the team wants to accomplish this postseason.”

The win over Cedar earns the Panthers a date on Thursday afternoon with top-seeded Crimson Cliffs. The Mustangs defeated Pine View both times the teams met during the regular season, with Crimson winning 2-0 at Pine View on April 8 and 1-0 at home on April 28. 

“The ball just hasn’t bounced our way, but both of those were very close matches,” said Duckworth, adding that his team is eager to face the Mustangs again.

“They’re not happy,” Duckworth said of his players. “They’re not satisfied. They’re looking forward to a rematch.”  

Thursday’s game is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Crimson Cliffs. 

– written by Jeff Richards

Desert Hills 8, Bear River 1

At Desert Hills, the Thunder recovered from an early hiccup and dominated Bear River the rest of the way.

Six different Thunder kickers scored eight straight goals and No. 4 Desert Hills advanced to face No. 5 Mountain Crest on Thursday.

The home team didn’t blink after surrendering an early lucky goal to the visitors.

“We came out a little slow, but eventually we just started connecting passes,” Thunder junior Dan Simister told St. George News. “It was really just teamwork. We started playing more as a team. That’s all it was.”

Simister netted two scores, including a penalty kick that tied the game 1-1 and swung all the momentum back to the Thunder.

His big game went along with Harry Echohawk’s fine performance. The Thunder junior had two goals and an assist and seemed to be in the middle of every Desert Hills scoring attempt.

The Thunder offense possessed the ball for most of the game and divided the spoils evenly. Four other players – Karson Clark, Gage Lewis, Dillon Bingham and Alexis Gonzalez – found the back of the net for Desert Hills.

Shayden Scott left the goalkeeper’s spot and played in the field for Desert Hills in the second half. He then recorded a game-high three assists. 

Mountain Crest will be the second consecutive opponent from Region 11 when Desert Hills hosts the game Thursday at 4 p.m.

“I feel like they’re just like the teams we play all season,” Simister said. “We just got to stick to our game and see what happens. I’m really excited.”

Snow Canyon 7, Hurricane 0

The Warriors struck four times in the first half and then thrice in the second half to defeat the Tigers.

No. 6 Snow Canyon now travels to the next round, a matchup Thursday at No. 3 Ridgeline. The winner earns a berth in the 4A state semifinals.

Damon Lund and Josh Jensen led the Snow Canyon attack as both players tallied two goals and one assist for the winners.

“I’ve played a lot of good games this year, but I felt like that one I was having fun and I was scoring goals, so it was a good time,” Jensen said. 

Three other Warriors found the back of the net: Jeyson Perez, Ruben Lizzaraga and Carter Gubler.

William Nadauld and Breckan Hoskins each had an assist for Snow Canyon while MaKai Reber recorded two helpers.

Goalkeeper Adler Brough posted the shutout for Snow Canyon.

Up next for the Warriors is a formidable challenge up I-15 against the Riverhawks.

“I think we got to train hard and I think we’re going to take it to them,” Jensen said. “I think it will be a good game, and we have a good chance.”

Kickoff at Ridgeline is scheduled for 4 p.m. Thursday.

4A boys soccer playoffs, Thursday’s quarterfinals schedule:

• No. 1 Crimson Cliffs hosts No. 8 Pine View, 4 p.m.
• No. 2 Dixie hosts No. 10 Sky View, 4 p.m.
• No. 3 Ridgeline hosts No. 6 Snow Canyon, 4 p.m.
• No. 4 Desert Hills hosts No. 5 Mountain Crest, 4 p.m.

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