Region 9 soccer: Flyers get 4 goals in 1st half, soar past Falcons

Dixie's Kelcee Call (12), Dixie vs. Canyon View, Girls Soccer, St.George, UT, Aug. 29, 2017, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — Region 9 girls soccer continues to be intense. Each week has a surprise in store, whether it be a blowout or a tight match. Although region play has only just begun, the state playoffs are just a little over five weeks away. There is no doubt that teams are feeling the pressure, hoping to secure a playoffs spot early on. Here are the results from Tuesday:

Dixie 5, Canyon View 1

The Flyers took off quick in the first half, scoring four goals in the first 20 minutes to soar past the Falcons.

“The plan was to come out and be really intense,” Flyers head coach Sam Gibbs said, “I hoped more of them would go in than went in, but the plan was to come in and just press really hard.”

During the first half alone, the Flyers had 17 shots with 12 of them being on goal. The Falcons for the first half had only one shot.

Dixie’s Isabel Erickson (19), Dixie vs. Canyon View, Girls Soccer, St.George, UT, Aug. 29, 2017, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

The Flyers defense also forced the Falcons into many costly turnovers. During the eighth minute, Flyers striker Halee Barker stole the ball and screamed it into the back of the net for her first goal of the game. Barker also scored later in the 16th minute when a foul on the Falcons gave her a penalty kick. She missed the shot, but got the rebound and put the ball back into the net.

During the 20th minute, Kelcee Call got a great pass from Barker and scored, putting the Flyers up 3-0. Only a minute later, the Falcons goalkeeper missed a clearing kick near the goal. Lindsey Barben took the ball for the Flyers and scored, putting the Flyers up 4-0.

“Our forwards penetrated well and we worked together as a team,” Barker said, “We connected our balls together and found the splits through the defense.”

The Flyers offense was connecting with each other all game. One fan came up after the game to coach Gibbs and said that passes were looking really pretty.

“Our team, overall, has good movement off the ball,” Barker said

Dixie’s Lindsey Barben (13), Dixie vs. Canyon View, Girls Soccer, St.George, UT, Aug. 29, 2017, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

“We practice a lot on taking shots on goal and getting them on frame.” Junior Forward Kennedy Warnick said.

The second half was much slower, with neither team scoring until the game was almost over. In the 75th minute, Barker put a nice cross from the right side of the field to Barben, who put the ball in for her second goal of the match.

Morgan Haag was able to score for the Falcons in the 78th minute. She now has 10 goals on the year.

The Falcons have been outscored 15-2 in region play so far.

With the win, the Flyers have won their first two matches of region play and are tied with Hurricane for second place in Region 9, one-half game back of Snow Canyon atop the standings.

“I think we are a contender,” Gibbs said when asked if his team is a contender or a dark-horse, “I have been telling the team that we are contenders all season. I hope we can play this well every game. If they come out and play well, we can do this.”

The Flyers are 2-0 in region play and 2-2-1 overall with a road game at Hurricane Thursday. CV falls to 1-6 overall and 0-3 in region and will host Snow Canyon Thursday at 4 p.m.

Snow Canyon 2, Cedar 1

The Lady Warriors outlasted the Lady Reds at Warrior Stadium in another tight match for Snow Canyon.

Heidi Smith scored once again for the Lady Warriors, bringing her total number of goals to six on the year. Ashley Brindley also had a goal for Snow Canyon for her second goal of the year.

Tasha Kamachi scored for the Lady Reds, bringing her total number of goals to four on the year.

The Warriors continue to own first place in Region 9 with the close victory with nine points in the standings. That’s three more than Hurricane and Dixie, which are tied for second.

SC, 4-1-1 overall and 3-0-0 in region, is at Canyon View for a 4 p.m. match Thursday. Cedar, 1-6 and 1-2, is off Thursday.

Hurricane 2, Pine View 1 (F/OT)

The Panthers lost a heartbreaker to the Tigers, who picked up their second overtime victory of the season. Just last week, Hurricane edged Canyon View in double OT.

Hurricane, 4-0-0 overall and 2-0-0 in region, has a key match with Dixie at Tigers Stadium Thursday night. The Tigers and Flyers are tied for second place in Region 9.

Pine View remains winless on the season at 0-5-0 and 0-3-0. The Panthers host Desert Hills Thursday.

THURSDAY’S GAMES (all games 7:30 p.m.unless otherwise noted)
Snow Canyon @ Canyon View 4 p.m.
Deseret Hills @ Pine View
Dixie @ Hurricane

REGION 9 STANDINGS (region, points, overall)
Snow Canyon 3-0-0, 9, 4-1-1
Hurricane 2-0-0, 6, 4-0-0
Dixie 2-0-0, 6, 2-2-1
Desert Hills 1-1-0, 3, 2-4-1|
Cedar 1-2-0, 3, 1-6-0
Canyon View 0-3-0, 0, 3-3-0
Pine View 0-3-0, 0, 0-5-0

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Twitter: @oldschoolag

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2017, all rights reserved.

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