Prep soccer: Warriors clinch with tight win over DH

Written by Jordan Abel
April 26, 2017
Snow Canyon's Alexander Tholen (18), Snow Canyon vs. Desert Hills, soccer, St. George, Utah, Apr. 25, 2017, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – Snow Canyon clinched at least a share of the Region 9 title with a win over Desert Hills Tuesday night, while Dixie slid into second, just ahead of the Thunder, and Cedar positioned itself for a playoff spot as well as there were three tight games around the region.

Here’s a look at the action:

Snow Canyon 2, Desert Hills 1

The Warriors grabbed an early lead and then relied on their defense the rest of the way en route to a 2-1 win over Desert Hills Tuesday night at Warrior Stadium.

With the victory, Snow Canyon clinched at least a tie for first, depending on the final matches which take place Friday.

“We have a share of region champs right now, but we’re a little selfish, we don’t want to share it. We shared it last year and that was bad enough,” Snow Canyon head coach Marc Wittwer said.

Snow Canyon’s Maxwell Kemp (12) and Desert Hills’ Beau Banielos (14), Snow Canyon vs. Desert Hills, Baseball, St. George, Utah, Apr. 25, 2017, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

It didn’t take long, less than two minutes, for the Warriors to score. But Desert Hills answered with about 30 minutes left in the first half.

“Senior night, I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Wittwer said. “I’ve been with these seniors since they were 7- or 8-years-old. I gotta be honest, I shed a few tears tonight before the game. We couldn’t ask for it to be any better than that. That’s exactly what we wanted and we got the win.”

Desert Hills head coach Benji Nelson wasn’t too disappointed with the way his team played.

“I thought we played well,” he said. “We kept stats, we out-possessed, we did everything we wanted to do, we just didn’t score goals. I’m feeling confident going in. We’re going to be fine wherever we end up sitting in playoffs. We just gotta come out and play our game.”

Snow Canyon scored its first goal on a free kick from the far left, on the 10-yard line. Richard Vichi took the kick and Alex Tholen volleyed it in the back of the net with 38:18 left in the first half.

“That’s just been something we’ve struggled with. We’ve tried various different things to try to get us to come out hard and get focused,” Nelson said. “We’ll still keep working on that, try to figure out what it is.”

Desert Hills scored with 30:23 left in the half when Walker Heaton took a free kick from 20-yards out and blasted it into the top corner.

“We came out harder than we did the first game,” Heaton said. “We’re playing better soccer, I think.”

Snow Canyon’s Yetzel Carrillo (23) and Desert Hills’ Jonathon Rogers (9), Snow Canyon vs. Desert Hills, Baseball, St. George, Utah, Apr. 25, 2017, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

The tie was broken by what would end up as the game-winning goal from Kaden Wittwer with 42 seconds left in the half. The ball wasn’t cleared well enough and Wittwer put it past the keeper.

“It was a great match, we fought hard,” Kaden Wittwer said. “I thought we played really well. I’m happy with the result.”

Snow Canyon will clinch first place outright with a win or tie against Hurricane Friday. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Hurricane High School.

“We’ve got to come out strong against Hurricane,” Marc Wittwer said. “They are a good team. They scored a goal against us, so we’ve got to be ready for them.”

Desert Hills will look to sneak into second, but needs help from Pine View against Dixie. Desert Hills will play host to Cedar Friday at 7:30 p.m.

“It’s another state playoff game. We’re just going to come out and we want to go forward and win the next five. I don’t think we need to change anything, just focus a little more on the things we need to do, make them crisper and cleaner, so we’ll just stick with our game plan.”

Cedar 2, Pine View 0

Cedar took over the fourth and final playoff spot with one game remaining by knocking off the Panthers.

The Redmen now have a one-point lead over Pine View in the standings.

Cedar’s Abe Brower and Ethan Fletcher scored a goal, while Jake Rehkop recorded the shutout.

Cedar finishes off the season against Desert Hills Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Pine View will face Dixie to finish off its season Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Dixie 2, Hurricane 1

The Flyers stole second place with a 2-1 win against Hurricane and the Thunder loss.

Dixie’s Oscar Quintero scored both goals, while Hurricane’s Dan Brubaker scored the Tigers’ lone goal.

The Flyers will now hope for a Snow Canyon loss Friday to maybe tie the Warriors for first.

Dixie will also look to stay at least in second with a match against Pine View Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Hurricane will take on the top-seeded Warriors in the final match of the regular season Friday at 7:30 p.m.

REGION 9 SOCCER STANDINGS
(team, region, points, overall)
Snow Canyon 7-0-2 (23) 11-2-2
Dixie 6-1-2 (20) 10-2-2
Desert Hills 6-3-0 (18) 10-5-0
Cedar 2-6-1 (4) 4-11-1
Pine View 2-7-0 (6) 3-11-0
Hurricane 1-7-1 (4) 3-9-1

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @oldschoolag

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

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jordan Abel started writing at Dixie State University for the Dixie Sun News in 2013, where he also became the sports editor for a semester before moving to Cedar City. He has also written for The Spectrum & Daily News, University Journal at Southern Utah University and now St. George News. He is currently attending Southern Utah University and pursuing a degree in pharmacy. Journalism has become a passion for him as he pursues his studies in another field. Jordan married Kaylee, a former Pine View and current SUU cross-country and track runner, in 2014.

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