Soccer roundup: Back from the dead, Thunder thinking playoffs with Friday’s 2OT win

Dixie at Desert Hills, St. George, Utah, Apr. 11, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — Two weeks ago, defending region champion Desert Hills was dead in the water, sitting at 0-4 in region play and staring at the very real possibility that it wouldn’t even make the playoffs, much less have a shot at repeating as region champion.

soccerSince Mar. 25, the Thunder have been the hottest team in Region 9, going 4-1, including Friday night’s 2-1 double-overtime victory over Dixie that pulled Desert Hills into a tie with Cedar for fourth place.

Sophomore Tommy Webb had the Golden Goal for the Thunder Friday night, with the defense ruling the day in front of veteran goalkeeper Vincent Enfield.

Dixie at Desert Hills, St. George, Utah, Apr. 11, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, St. George News
Dixie at Desert Hills, St. George, Utah, Apr. 11, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, St. George News

During this 4-1 stretch, Desert Hills has only allowed a total of five goals and that includes a 2-0 loss to league-leader Pine View. And while a repeat as region champion is nearly impossible with so few games left (DH is down to just three remaining contests and trails the Panthers by seven points), the playoffs are now within reach if the Thunder can stay hot. Especially since Desert Hills’ next opponent is Cedar next Wednesday night up in Iron County.

As for the Flyers, they remain tied for second with 16 points (at 5-3-1), though have played one more game than Snow Canyon. Dixie falls three points behind Pine View in the race for the region crown. The Flyers’ next contest is at home Tuesday vs. Hurricane. Dixie has three matches remaining as well.

Pine View 2, Hurricane 0

Justin Jones got the shutout between the pipes as the Panthers forged back into the lead in Region 9 with the shutout victory at Hurricane.

Braden Johnston and Michael Cardenas both notched second-half goals to break open the scoreless tie and lead PV to the key win.

The Panthers’ Jones got his fourth shutout of the season and Cardenas tied a team-high with his sixth goal of the year. It was Johnston’s fifth tally of the season.

Pine View, 9-2-2 overall and 6-2-1 in region, plays at second place Snow Canyon next Tuesday. The Panthers embarrassed the Warriors 6-0 in the two teams’ first match-up.

Hurricane, 5-6-1 and 2-6-0, still has slim hopes of making the playoffs, but needs to get hot quick. The Tigers are at Dixie Tuesday night.

Snow Canyon 2, Canyon View 0

The Warriors shutout last-place Canyon View behind goalkeeper Tyson Brough’s efforts.

Angel Muniz and Justin Grualva each scored in the second half for the Warriors, who improved to 6-4-2 overall and 5-2-1 in region.

Snow Canyon has four matches remaining, including two next week. Tuesday the Warriors host Pine View and Wednesday SC travels to Hurricane.

The Falcons, 3-8-1 and 1-6-1, are home for Cedar Tuesday and at Pine View Wednesday.

Region 9
W
L
T
GS
GA
Pts.
W
L
T
GS
GA
Pts.
Pine View 6 2 1 21 8 19 9 2 2 36 10 29
Snow Canyon 5 2 1 16 10 16 6 4 2 22 17 20
Dixie 5 3 1 13 9 16 8 3 2 21 14 26
Cedar 4 3 0 13 9 12 7 4 0 29 11 21
Desert Hills 4 5 0 9 13 12 5 7 1 17 20 16
Hurricane 2 6 0 10 12 6 5 6 1 27 13 16
Canyon View 1 6 1 6 27 4 3 8 1 19 33 10

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

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @oldschoolag

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2014, all rights reserved.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.