ST. GEORGE — Halloween is still more than a month away and there was no full moon, but it was still a strange sort of night on the soccer pitches of Region 9 Tuesday.

Pine View stunned previously unbeaten Cedar 1-0 behind an impressive effort from the Panthers defense and goalkeeper Alena Lorentzen. Desert Hills and Snow Canyon played 100 minutes of competitive footie and came away with point each in a tie game at Warriors Field. And Dixie grabbed three points with a home win against the Hurricane Tigers with a pair of goal keepers combining for the shutout at Walt Brooks Stadium.

In Pine View victory, a 1-0 triumph at Panther Stadium, Lorentzen and the Panthers kept the Lady Reds off the scoreboard. It is an impressive feat considering Cedar came into the game averaging 3.4 goals per game.

The lone tally of the night came off the foot of Kodee Bracken in the first half. The D made it stand the rest of the evening in handing Cedar its first loss since Aug. 15.

It’s also a key win for the Panthers in that it draws them to within a point of both Desert Hills and Snow Canyon in the standings as the teams vie for a playoff spot and the race for a region title. Pine View, 3-2 in region (6-2-2 overall) has nine points, while the Lady Reds, 8-3-0 overall and 4-1-0 in region, lead the league with 12 points.

The Thunder and Warriors battled back and forth all night at SCHS. Desert Hills drew first blood on a goal by Brecken Dalley early in the second half after neither team was able to drive one home in the first 40 minutes.

Snow Canyon got the tying netfinder with about 10 minutes to play on a penalty kick by Jacquel Bozarth after one of her teammates was fouled in the goal box.

The game edged into overtime, and then a second 10-minute period with neither team able to score. Non-playoff games are left as ties (rather than a PK shootout) in Region 9 soccer.

The two teams emerge with 10 points in the region standings after the push, each missing out on a golden opportunity to tie Cedar with a win. Desert Hills, 5-4-2 overall and 3-1-1 in region, got a nice effort in goal from Brittany Moore. The same can be said for SC’s Mada Mooring as the Warriors record goes to 4-4-3 overall and 3-1-1 in region.

Dixie, meanwhile, is hoping to make its own push for the playoffs after a 2-0 win over Hurricane Tuesday night. Freshman Maushaun Estridge shut out the Tigers in the first half, then Taylor Witson played her first minutes between the posts this season after breaking her hand just before the Flyers first game. Each gets credit for half a shutout in the Dixie win.

The Flyers, who have struggled putting goals in the back of the net this season, opened the game with a rebound goal by Starlee Woodbury. The tally came just 90 seconds into the contest and Woodbury’s effort came off the rebound of a Vanessa Bonilla shot.

Not to be outdone, Bonilla got her own goal in the second half, driving one in at about the 32-minute mark of the second half.

“We’re pretty young, but we’ve been playing good and it’s starting to come together,” Dixie coach Burt Myers said. “One of the big problems this year has been capitalizing on good opportunities and we finally did that tonight. I like where we’re headed right now.”

It’s the first three points of the region season this year for the defending region champs, who are still six points behind fourth-place Pine View. Dixie, 3-6-0 overall and 1-4-0 in region, still has a lot of work to do if the Flyers want to make the playoffs.

Tuesday’s finals mark the halfway point of region play, but there is no time to pause and reflect as the teams head out for round two of the games starting Thursday night. Cedar hosts Dixie at 4 p.m. Thursday, with Desert Hills hosting Hurricane and Pine View hosting Snow Canyon in games that begin at 7:30 p.m.

Region 9 Standings

TEAM	W	L	T	GS	GA	PTS.
Cedar	4	1	0	7	3	12
Snow Canyon	3	1	1	10	4	10
Desert Hills	3	1	1	10	4	10
Pine View	3	2	0	5	6	9
Dixie	1	4	0	3	9	3
Hurricane	0	5	0	0	9	0

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