Region 9 soccer recap: Desert Hills stays unbeaten, 6 teams tied for third place

Breanna Graves of Snow Canyon tries to get ball past Dixie goalkeeper Katie Mills, Dixie at Snow Canyon, St. George, Utah, Sept. 3, 2020 | Photo by Dave Larson, St. George News / Cedar City News

ST. GEORGE — In Region 9 girls soccer action this week, the Desert Hills Thunder won both its games to stay unbeaten in region play. Meanwhile, Cedar rebounded from a tough loss to Canyon View with a win over Hurricane Thursday night to capture the No. 2 spot in the standings with a 3-2 record. The other six teams in the region are all tied for third place with 2-3 records, including Snow Canyon, which won twice this week. Here’s a recap of this week’s games:

Thursday’s games

Desert Hills 2, Pine View 1 

At Desert Hills, Maia Parry scored one goal for the home team in each half, which proved to be enough in the Thunder’s 2-1 win over the Panthers. Mairen Maclellan scored for Pine View.

Snow Canyon 3, Dixie 0

At Snow Canyon, the Warriors shut out the Flyers. After a scoreless first half, Snow Canyon got goals from Lilly Wittwer, Tessa Thornton and Taylan Whitehead. Senior goalkeeper Ruth Sumner picked up the shutout for the Warriors, who improved to 2-3 in region play with their second straight home win.

Cedar 4, Hurricane 3

At Hurricane, the Cedar Reds prevailed in a hard-fought match. The two teams were deadlocked 2-2 at halftime, but Cedar’s Emily Schuh scored her second goal of the night on a well-placed arcing shot from about 20 yards out to put the Reds up 3-2. Cedar then went up 4-2 on a goal by Sydney Craft a few minutes later, just before the midway point of the second half.

Cedar goalkeeper Kelsie Oldroyd knocks away a corner kick, Cedar at Hurricane, Hurricane, Utah, Sept. 3, 2020 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Hurricane’s Lydia Prince drilled in a point-blank shot into the net with about 13 minutes remaining to bring the Tigers within one, 4-3, but Hurricane could get no closer as Cedar escaped with the physical win.

Cedar head coach Scott Kamachi said his players continued to play hard regardless of which way the officials’ calls were going.

“The girls did a good job of absorbing those calls and not freaking out, along with absorbing the injuries that we had tonight, and just going out and playing,” he said.

Crimson Cliffs 3, Canyon View 1

At Crimson Cliffs, the Mustangs battled the Falcons to a scoreless tie in the first half. Then, about 12 minutes into the second half, Canyon View’s Brylee Bergener found space behind the Crimson defense and scored, putting the Falcons up 1-0.

Shortly after that goal, Crimson Cliffs adjusted their formation and went on an even more concentrated attack, according to head coach Andy Yergensen.

The Mustangs went on to score three goals in a span of about eight minutes, starting with a goal by Jantzyn Losee off a corner kick in the box with about 20 minutes left. A few minutes later, defender Alissa Stelter scored a header goal from a free kick. Then, with about 12 minutes left on the clock, Losee iced the game with a breakaway goal, with Stelter getting the assist.

“Canyon View is another physical team,” Yergensen said, adding that his players had to step up to try to match their opponent’s level of physicality and intensity.

Tuesday’s games

Canyon View 4, Cedar 2 

At Canyon View, the Falcons defeated Cedar in girls soccer for the first time since 2009, snapping a winless streak that included 19 losses and one tie, a 0-0 contest in 2010.

Cedar at Canyon View, Cedar City, Utah, Sept. 1, 2020 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Cassidy Cox scored first for Canyon View, followed by a Brylee Bergener goal, assisted by Addison Newman. Cedar’s Emily Schuh countered with a goal before halftime to cut the deficit to 2-1.

Early in the second half, Newman assisted Bergener again on another cross to make it 3-1 Falcons, but Schuh quickly scored again for Cedar to bring the Reds within one goal, 3-2.

The clincher for Canyon View came on a corner kick, with Brinley Christensen putting it in the back of the net to give the Falcons a 4-2 lead that would be the final score.

“This was a tough game,” Canyon View head coach Steven Newman said. “These girls on both teams have played together and against each other since they were 9 years old. They know each other well. Our girls felt like this was a game where they played as a team the entire game. There was not any one player who stood out. Every player contributed. It was a nice team win.”

Cedar head coach Scott Kamachi said: “We had a long winning streak, and the girls played not to lose instead of playing to win, plus Canyon View played well.”

Desert Hills 3, Hurricane 1

At Hurricane, the Tigers got a first half goal from Mary Langston to take a 1-0 halftime lead, but Desert Hills scored three times in the second half to pull away with the victory. Lulu Harris scored twice and Maia Parry added one goal for the Thunder.

Pine View 2, Dixie 0

Dixie at Pine View, St. George, Utah, Sept. 1, 2020 | Photo by Dave Larson, St. George News / Cedar City News

At Pine View, the Panthers got a goal from Mairen Maclellan and another score from an own goal to defeat the Dixie Flyers 2-0. Kayley Eaton picked up the shutout at goalkeeper.

Snow Canyon 2, Crimson Cliffs 1

At Snow Canyon, the Warriors got goals in the first half from Breanna Graves and Tessa Thornton, then held on to beat Crimson Cliffs 2-1, giving Snow Canyon its first region win of the season.

Emily Gibb scored the lone goal for the Mustangs.

“Snow Canyon was very physical and we didn’t match their intensity,” Crimson Cliffs head coach Andy Yergensen said. “We played with low energy and Snow Canyon seemed like they were playing downhill all game.”

Yergensen said the Mustangs also had a limited number of shots on goal as they struggled to find passes and maintain possession.

“My strategies are based on us getting to the end line, and I think we only had two corner kicks all game,” he said.

Region 9 girls soccer standings, as of Sept. 4 (region record, overall)

  1. Desert Hills 5-0 (5-2)
  2. Cedar 3-2 (4-3)
  3. (Tie) Dixie 2-3 (2-6)
  4. (Tie) Hurricane 2-3 (2-5)
  5. (Tie) Crimson Cliffs 2-3 (3-4)
  6. (Tie) Canyon View 2-3 (4-3)
  7. (Tie) Pine View 2-3 (4-3)
  8. (Tie) Snow Canyon 2-3 (4-4)

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

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