Prep soccer: SC’s blowout win keeps title dreams alive

Snow Canyon vs. Tooele, Soccer, St. George, Utah, May. 06, 2017, | Photo by Kevin Luthy, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – Snow Canyon tied its top scoring effort of the season with an 8-0 domination of Tooele in the quarterfinal round of the state tournament Saturday afternoon at Warrior Stadium.

The Warriors couldn’t be stopped in the first half as they dropped six goals in the first 40 minutes. Another early goal in the second half led to the Warriors calling off the dogs by subbing in younger players.

SC head coach Marc Wittwer was happy with just a win and is ready to move on to the next game.

Snow Canyon’s Yetzel Carrillo (23), Snow Canyon vs. Tooele, Soccer, St. George, Utah, May. 06, 2017, | Photo by Kevin Luthy, St. George News

“It’s good to get the win. That’s what mattered,” he said. “We stayed selfless, finished it off, and got some guys some playing time that haven’t had it before.”

Wittwer thought it was important to get some of the younger players time on the field.

“It’s critical. Next year, we’re going to have a good team, too,” he said. “We’re going to have a lot of young kids coming in. They need that time, so it was really good to get them in the game today.”

Richard Vichi scored the first goal of the match within the first two minutes, thanks to an assist from his brother Axel Niño Vichi.

“My brother passed me back the ball, and I was within the 18-yard box,” Richard Vichi said. “I dribbled past one or two guys, and then I just toe-poked the ball to the left corner. It’s fun playing with my brother. This year, since he’s a senior, I’m playing for him, ’cause I want him to get a ring.”

“(Richard)’s always open,” Niño Vichi said. “He’s making all the runs. I see him doing all the work.”

Max Kemp then scored twice in-a-row, on assists by Kaden Wittwer and Dillon Hargis. Then Dillon Hargis scored two-in-a-row. The assists were from Kolton Barber and Niño Vichi. Ben Kemp scored the final first-half goal on an assist from Dillon Hargis with about three minutes left in the half.

Snow Canyon vs. Tooele, Soccer, St. George, Utah, May. 06, 2017, | Photo by Kevin Luthy, St. George News

“We did pretty good, just passed it around,” Niño Vichi said. “It was a good, fun game. Once we go back to practice, we’re going to go hard, keep the intensity up.”

It didn’t take long for Snow Canyon to get its seventh goal in the second half. Just over three minutes into the half, Alex Tholen chipped one over the keeper off an assist from Kolton Barber. The final goal of the day came from Dillon Hoskins on an assist from Luis Gamez.

Quinn Hargis and the defense has not allowed a goal in the tournament so far. In fact, the team has only allowed seven goals all year, five of which came against region opponents.

Snow Canyon’s Axel Vichi (19), Snow Canyon vs. Tooele, Soccer, St. George, Utah, May. 06, 2017, | Photo by Kevin Luthy, St. George News

“We just play tough,” SC defender Kadin Dorius said. “We know how to cover each other. We hustle and play smart. We play disciplined.”

Now it’s the semifinals for Snow Canyon, which will travel to Alta High School to take on Region 11 champ Ridgeline Friday for an opportunity to play for the state championship. That match is set to kick off at 4 p.m. The Riverhawks beat Stansbury 2-1 Saturday.

“It’s not going to be a scorefest. It might be a one-nothing game, and I’ll be thrilled to death. That’s what our plan is. We’ll just go out hard. We’ll have opportunities, just get the win.”

Logan, which upset Dixie on Thursday, did it again Saturday, defeating Region 12 champ Canyon View 2-0. The Grizzlies play Juan Diego, which knocked off Park City 4-0 in the quarterfinals, Friday at 6:15 p.m. at Alta.

Boys Soccer 3A State Tournament Bracket

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @oldschoolag

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2017, 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.