Region 9 boys soccer season kicks off

Snow Canyon at Desert Hills, Region 9 boys soccer season opener, St. George, Utah, March 3, 2020 | Photo by Dave Larson, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — The Region 9 boys soccer season kicked off this past week, with the first slate of region contests taking place Tuesday, March 3.

Desert Hills and Dixie, which tied for the Region 9 championship last year with identical 11-1 records, both won their season opening contests, as did Hurricane and Crimson Cliffs. Following are short recaps of last week’s region games, along with mentions of other contests played later in the week:

Desert Hills 2, Snow Canyon 0

Desert Hills hosted Snow Canyon, with the Thunder shutting out the Warriors 2-0. Senior Ben Simister scored both of Desert Hills’s goals, while goalkeeper Preston Hodges picked up the shutout. Simister was the Thunder’s leading scorer last year, with 21 goals in 21 games. The Thunder ended up placing second in the 4A state tournament last May, losing to Sky View 1-0 in the championship game.

Snow Canyon at Desert Hills, Region 9 boys soccer season opener, St. George, Utah, March 3, 2020 | Photo by Dave Larson, St. George News

Later in the week, Desert Hills then hosted three Wasatch Front schools in non-region contests on successive days. The Thunder beat Hillcrest 5-0 on Thursday, lost to Stansbury 1-0 on Friday and defeated Maple Mountain 2-1 on Saturday to improve their overall record to 3-1.

Snow Canyon bounced back from the loss to Desert Hills with a pair of non-region wins on the road. The Warriors won at Jordan 4-0 on Friday and shut out Farmington 2-0 on Saturday to improve to 2-1 overall. Snow Canyon junior Jacob Wittwer scored a goal in each of the two wins.

Dixie 8, Cedar 0

Dixie’s season opener at home was an 8-0 shutout of the Cedar Reds. Five different players scored for the Flyers, led by Rene Bernal with three goals. Carson Greer earned the shutout.

Dixie also recorded home shutouts against two non-region opponents later in the week. The Flyers defeated Maple Mountain 2-0 on Friday and Alta 3-0 on Saturday to improve their overall record to 3-0.

The day after their loss to Dixie, the Cedar Reds traveled to Salt Lake County to play Juan Diego Catholic High School. The Reds lost that contest 6-0, and Cedar also lost at Timpview in similar fashion on Friday, with that latter score being 7-0.

Crimson Cliffs 2, Pine View 1

Crimson Cliffs won the school’s first-ever boys soccer contest last Tuesday with a 2-1 home win over Pine View. Cameron Robinson and Jacob McKittrick each netted a goal for the Mustangs.

Crimson Cliffs then went 2-1 at the St. George Tournament, losing to Salem Hills 2-1 on Thursday but defeating Payson 3-2 on Friday and Richfield 6-0 on Saturday. Kai Klingonsmith and Ramon Squires each netted two goals in the win over Richfield.

Pine View, meanwhile, lost two home games later in the week, falling to Maple Mountain 6-2 on Thursday and getting shut out 14-0 by Green Canyon on Friday. 

Hurricane 2, Canyon View 0

At Hurricane, the Tigers won their season opener last Tuesday with a 2-0 win over Canyon View. Kaden Hatch and Yair Vega each scored a goal for Hurricane, with Luke Christian getting the shutout at goalkeeper. Hurricane then went on to beat Payson 4-1 on Thursday and Beaver 3-1 on Friday. The Tigers then fell at home to Green Canyon 1-0 on Saturday, bringing their overall record to 3-1.

Meanwhile, Canyon View bounced back from Tuesday’s opening loss to Hurricane by defeating Beaver 4-3 at Canyon View on Wednesday, followed by a 5-0 shutout win by the Falcons at Parowan on Friday.

This week’s Region 9 boys soccer schedule 

Tuesday, March 10

  • Desert Hills at Dixie, 7 p.m.
  • Pine View at Canyon View, 4 p.m.
  • Cedar at Crimson Cliffs, 7 p.m.
  • Hurricane at Snow Canyon, 7 p.m.

Friday, March 13

  • Snow Canyon at Canyon View, 3:30 p.m.
  • Pine View at Cedar, 4 p.m.
  • Desert Hills at Crimson Cliffs, 7 p.m.
  • Dixie at Hurricane, 7 p.m.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2020, all rights reserved.

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