Region 9 girls soccer recap: Pine View, Cedar each win twice at home to move up in standings

Written by Jeff Richards
September 25, 2020
Desert Hills at Cedar, Cedar City, Utah, Sept. 24, 2020 | Photo by London Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

ST. GEORGE — Pine View and Cedar were the only Region 9 girls soccer teams to go undefeated this week, with both teams winning twice at home.

The Panthers defeated Crimson Cliffs on Tuesday and Snow Canyon on Thursday to move up into second place in the region standings with a 7-4 region record, 9-4 overall. They also jumped from ninth place to fourth place in the statewide RPI rankings.

Cedar, meanwhile, shut out Dixie at home on Tuesday, then outlasted region-leading Desert Hills Thursday afternoon. With its two wins this week, Cedar improved its record to 6-5 in region play, the same as Canyon View and Crimson Cliffs, both of whom went 1-1 this week.

Although the loss to Cedar dropped Desert Hills’ record to 9-2 in region play, 9-4 overall, the Thunder remain in third place in the Utah High School Activities Association’s current RPI rankings. See the chart at bottom of the story for complete region standings and RPI rankings.

Here’s a recap of this week’s Region 9 soccer games:

Thursday’s games

Cedar 3, Desert Hills 2

Desert Hills at Cedar, Cedar City, Utah, Sept. 24, 2020 | Photo by London Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

At Cedar, the Reds scored twice in the first half, then hung on to defeat Desert Hills, 3-2. After the Thunder had cut Cedar’s lead to 2-1 in the second half, Jacey Messer scored to give the Reds back their two-goal cushion.

“It was a tough game and the girls showed some mental toughness to help secure the win,” Cedar head coach Scott Kamachi said. “Beating Desert Hills is a big boost for us as we prepare for the playoffs. We still have some tough games to help us get ready for the postseason. We will enjoy this win tonight but need to get ready for Crimson Cliffs on Tuesday.”

Canyon View 1, Dixie 0

At Canyon View, senior Addison Newman scored the game’s only goal with about 25 minutes left in the second half, giving the Falcons the win over the Flyers. Aspen Bergener earned the shutout for Canyon View, which improved to 6-5 in region play.

Pine View 3, Snow Canyon 2

At Pine View, the Panthers and Warriors battled to a 2-2 tie in the first half, but Pine View senior Mairen MacLellan scored the go-ahead goal, heading the ball into the net from a corner kick by teammate Katelyn Leavitt. The Panthers then held on for the 3-2 victory over Snow Canyon, just two nights after they’d beaten a tough Crimson Cliffs on the same pitch.

Snow Canyon at Pine View, St. George, Utah, Sept. 24, 2020 | Photo by Dave Larson, St. George News

“All credit goes to the girls. They put in a lot of work this week in both games,” Pine View head coach Sam Johnston told St. George News. “Both teams we played had beaten us earlier in the year, so we knew it was going to be a tough week. The girls responded really well to each challenge. They did a great job this week with putting in all the hard running that is required, while also executing when it mattered most.”

Crimson Cliffs 1, Hurricane 0

At Hurricane, Jantzyn Losee of Crimson Cliffs scored the game’s only goal about 11 minutes into the first half when she chipped it over the keeper and into the net, assisted by Alissa Stetler.

Crimson Cliffs coach Andy Yergensen said both teams played strong defense throughout the contest. Goalkeeper Ellie Nielsen earned the shutout for the Mustangs.

“She made a great reflex save on a flicked ball from a Hurricane free kick in the first half,” Yergensen said of Nielsen. The coach also singled out the stellar play of Losee, Kamryn Brown and Ashley Cuevas as being instrumental in the win.

Tuesday’s games

Cedar 5, Dixie 0

Dixie at Cedar, Cedar City, Utah, Sept. 22, 2020 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

At Cedar, the Reds saw five different players score, all in the first half, as they shut out the Dixie Flyers 5-0. Kelsie Oldroyd, who played most of the game at goalkeeper, actually scored Cedar’s fifth goal just before halftime, during one of the short stints when coach Scott Kamachi pulled her away from goalie and played her at forward instead.

Although his team didn’t score in the second half, Kamachi was pleased with the teamwork they showed.

“If we play our positions correctly, we can get multiple people involved in the scoring, not just one person,” he said.

Also netting goals for Cedar were Emily Schuh, Jacey Messer, Logann Laws and Sydney Craft.

Pine View 2, Crimson Cliffs 0

At Pine View, the Panthers got goals from Brynlee Johnston and Mairen MacLellan in a 2-0 shutout of the Crimson Cliffs Mustangs.

Desert Hills 3, Snow Canyon 0

At Desert Hills, the Thunder outscored Snow Canyon 2-0 in the first half, then added one more insurance goal in the second half to win 3-0. Goal scorers for the Thunder were Ellie Hendrix, Maia Parry and Sienna Gargano. Mikenna DeCastro earned the shutout at goalkeeper.

Hurricane 2, Canyon View 0

Canyon View at Hurricane, Hurricane, Utah, Sept. 22, 2020 | Photo by Dave Larson, St. George News / Cedar City News

In a physical matchup at Hurricane, the Tigers shut out the visiting Canyon View Falcons. The game was scoreless in the first half but Hurricane’s Olivia Stevenson and Tymber Oliphant each made a goal in the second half to account for all the scoring. Jazz Shannon got the shutout at goalkeeper.

“We just didn’t show up,” Canyon View head coach Steven Newman said after the loss. “We did not step to the ball and they were passing it all around us. They wanted it more and beat us.”

Next week’s games

Next week’s Region 9 schedule is as follows: on Tuesday, Pine View is at Canyon View at 4 p.m., while the other three contests all start at 7:30 p.m.: Hurricane at Snow Canyon, Cedar at Crimson Cliffs and Desert Hills at Dixie. Then, on Thursday, Crimson Cliffs is at Canyon View and Hurricane is at Cedar, with both varsity games at 4 p.m. Later that evening, Snow Canyon plays at Dixie and Desert Hills will play at Pine View, with both of those contests starting at 7:30 p.m.

Region 9 girls soccer standings, as of Sept. 25 (region record, overall, RPI)

  1. Desert Hills 9-2 (9-4) 3rd in RPI rankings
  2. Pine View 7-4 (9-4) 4th RPI
  3. Canyon View 6-5 (8-5) 10th RPI
  4. Cedar 6-5 (7-6) 12th RPI
  5. Crimson Cliffs 6-5 (7-6) 13th RPI
  6. Snow Canyon 4-7 (5-8) 14th RPI
  7. Hurricane 3-8 (3-10) 17th RPI
  8. Dixie 3-8 (3-11) 18th RPI

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

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Richards, a native of Salt Lake City with family roots in Panguitch, lived in Moab for 20 years before joining St. George News in 2017. Jeff is a longtime journalist and secondary school teacher. He and his wife Penny are the parents of five daughters. They also have three young grandsons. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @stgnews@moabjeff@stgnewssports

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