4A state girls soccer: Snow Canyon, Crimson Cliffs win playoff thrillers

Written by E. George Goold
October 11, 2023

ST. GEORGE — Two girls soccer teams from Region 9 advanced to the quarterfinals of the 4A state soccer playoffs Tuesday afternoon.

Snow Canyon’s defense and two timely goals gave the Warriors a win over Desert Hills while Crimson Cliffs scored in double overtime to shock the two-time defending 4A champion Mountain Crest Mustangs.

Meanwhile, Cedar saw its season end on the road in Park City.

The playoffs conclude with the 4A championship game at America First Field in Sandy on Friday, Oct. 20.

Following are recaps of Tuesday’s 4A playoff soccer games.

Snow Canyon 2, Desert Hills 0

Desert Hills’ Ellie Hendrix (2) charges against Snow Canyon in a 4A girls state soccer playoff game, St. George, Utah, Oct. 10, 2023 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

Lottie Smith scored in the first half for the Warriors and Lilly Wittwer tallied in the second half and Snow Canyon rolled to its 10th consecutive victory.

“This is the kind of game that could go either way,” Snow Canyon coach Connor Brown told St. George News. “Desert Hills is such an incredible team.”

The game pitted two of the state’s best seniors as Ashlee Harris for Snow Canyon and Ellie Hendrix for Desert Hills both tried to establish a presence early on.

Both put on dazzling displays of skill with the ball, dancing around the orb and always looking for just a tiny bit of space to launch laser-like shots.

“Our key coming in was going to be to try to shut down Ellie. She’s top of the region in everything, just an incredible player.”

Snow Canyon’s stout backline of defenders Macie Hoskins, Andee Hobson, Sydnee Crowton and Paige Chris worked together to contain Hendrix and goal keeper Tori Martin was able to handle whatever shots got through in the shutout.

Amelia Nadauld also defended very well for the Warriors, a game after scoring three goals and dispensing three assists in the opening round.

“She’s an absolute athlete,” Brown said, noting that Nadauld is a state champion on the track as well as a versatile soccer player. “We just needed her against their speedsters, Desert Hills has a couple of really quick attacking players.”

Snow Canyon’s Ashlee Harris (24) works a play with Lilly Wittwer (20) in a 2-0 win over Desert Hills in a 4A girls state playoff soccer game, St. George, Utah, Oct. 10, 2023 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

Lottie Smith broke the ice with her strike towards the end of the first half, assisted by Wittwer.

“Lottie was clutch in that moment,” Brown said. “Sometimes all you need as a striker is to put your foot on it, and she did, she put that home.”

Then in the second half Wittwer was rewarded for her hard work in the box, creating a handball that led to her penalty kick goal that put the contest out of reach for the Thunder.

“I thought Snow Canyon played great, as they have all year long,” Desert Hills coach Benji Nelson said. “We had a few chances and it just didn’t seem the bounces quite went our way.”

The Thunder finished the year at 13-5 and we co-champs of Region 9, along with Crimson Cliffs.

“We’re happy with the success we had this year, region champs,” Nelson said. “That’s a hard thing to do.”

Desert Hills loses several very good seniors off this team, led by Hendrix, who goes on to play soccer at Utah State.

“I think she’s probably the best player ever to come out of Southern Utah,” Nelson said about Hendrix. “She’s got so much talent and ability. She’s got a new journey up north to continue to play and do well and show that we’ve got some good players here in Southern Utah.”

No. 11 Snow Canyon (13-5) hits the road for a quarterfinal matchup against No. 3 Park City (15-2) on Thursday, Oct. 12 at 4 p.m.

Crimson Cliffs 3, Mountain Crest 2, 2OT

Crimson Cliffs’ Addison Thompson (left) heads a ball against Mountain Crest in a 4A girls state playoff soccer game, Washington, Utah, Oct. 10, 2023 | Photo by Stan Plewe, St. George News

The No. 8 seed Mustangs beat the No. 9 seed and two-time defending champion Mustangs from Region 11 when Ava Garrett scored in double overtime in a thriller at Washington Fields.

Garrett converted an assist from Isabella Cotter in the game’s winning play.

Marissa Woolley and Kate Garrett scored for Crimson in the first half and the Mustangs looked good ahead by two at halftime.

But the defending champs got two markers in the second session to force the extra two OT periods.

Crimson Cliffs (13-4) heads to the quarterfinal round and a game against No. 1 Green Canyon (16-1) on Thursday, Oct. 12 at 4 p.m. in North Logan.

Park City 3, Cedar 1

Cedar’s try for a second playoff upset in a row fell short after the Miners scored twice in the first half and once in the second to secure the home victory.

Rylan Tebbs scored for Cedar in the second half but the Reds got no closer.

Sophia Thimm, Hailey Olsen and Abby Hanton scored for Park City in the win.

Cedar finished its season with an 8-10 overall record.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Eric George Goold came to St. George News from southwestern Colorado, where he was a radio news reporter. He has been a journalist for over 20 years in five different states. He graduated with a master's degree in English from Kansas State University and writes nonfiction as well. Goold has been published in Sunstone Magazine and has done multiple public readings about local history. When he has free time, he enjoys chess, movies and dogs.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews

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