ST. GEORGE — The chase for the Region 10 soccer title is tied with two games left to play.

Dixie and Crimson Cliffs are at the top of the group while Desert Hills is alone in second-place. Snow Canyon and Pine View still have much to play for in their remaining games as each team is 5-5 in region play. Cedar and Hurricane will look to finish strong in the last week before 4A playoff seedings are determined.

Following are recaps from this week’s action on the pitch.

Friday’s Games

Crimson Cliffs 4, Dixie 0

The intensity level was noticeably ratcheted up when Dixie and Crimson Cliffs met in Washington.

The teams combined for 34 fouls, but the physical play didn’t stop the Mustangs from netting four tallies, three in the second half, to shutout the Flyers 4-0.

“Dixie outplayed us for the first 15, 20 minutes,” Crimson Cliffs coach Isaac Klingonsmith said. “We were quite nervous to play them as they are a good, quality team.”

After a couple of near-misses, Crimson Cliffs got on the board with a corner kick.

David Heinze collected the ball near the far post, turned, and booted his close-in shot past Dixie goalie Carlos Diaz.

“The goal definitely helped,” Klingonsmith said. “We could relax a little bit and let the game come to us, rather than chasing.”

Early in the second half, Paul Butterfield converted a penalty kick and Crimson Cliffs led 2-0.

Mustangs starting goalkeeper Dade MacDonald left the game with about 15 minutes left, but not before he recorded three saves for his tenth shutout of the year.

Mustangs senior Eli Smith scored twice after the penalty kick to secure Crimson’s win. 

“We wanted to have a good defense and press high, and then possess through them and find the easy through-balls,” Smith described. “We played as a team, we played together.”

Smith scored his eighth and ninth goals of the year in the contest and said it was nice to get some payback after Dixie beat the Mustangs 2-1 in overtime three weeks ago.

“Feels really good, yeah,” Smith said. “Feels really nice. Been looking forward to it.”

Both teams are now 8-2 in Region 10, tied atop the standings with two games left before the 4A state playoffs.

Crimson Cliffs hosts Snow Canyon Tuesday and Pine View Thursday, while Dixie has a home game versus Pine View Tuesday and finishes up on the road Thursday against Cedar.

“I think we’re gonna take it all the way,” Smith said.

Snow Canyon 2, Cedar 1

At Cedar, the Snow Canyon Warriors scored in the game’s first minute, with senior MaKai Reber knocking in a shot that had bounced back off the top crossbar following the goalkeeper’s attempt to clear the ball.

Then, with just over seven minutes left before halftime, Cedar’s Levi Humphries scored an equalizer to tie it 1-1.

Snow Canyon’s Reber then put the Warriors ahead again with about 27 minutes left in the second half, taking a nice left-side pass from teammate Breckan Hoskins and kicking it past the keeper into the corner of the net.

“He was able to get the ball across for a nice easy finish,” said Snow Canyon head coach Zac Hales. “It was really good to see. We were trying to do that for the majority of the game but Cedar makes things difficult. They’re a quality team.”

That ended up being the final score, as neither team was able to capitalize again, although there were several more shots on goal attempted down the stretch.

The game was played on a wet field in chilly temperatures, with brisk winds and intermittent rains adding to the challenge.

“When we trained yesterday, it was 85 degrees,” Hales said. “And we come up here and it’s snowing and raining and 37 degrees. So it’s a little different, but we adjusted and we’re all right.”

Snow Canyon improved to 7-6 overall with the win, 5-5 in Region 10 play. The Warriors have two regular season games remaining, both of which are next week: at Crimson Cliffs on Tuesday and at home vs. Desert Hills on Thursday.

Cedar, meanwhile, dropped to 3-8 in region play, 5-9 overall with the loss. The Reds have a bye next Tuesday, after which they will host the Dixie Flyers on Thursday afternoon for the regular season finale.

Pine View 4, Hurricane 1

The Panthers beat the Tigers by three at home, netting all four of their goals in the second half.

At 5-5 in Region 10, Pine View finishes the regular season on the road, at Dixie on Tuesday and at Crimson Cliffs Thursday.

And Hurricane slipped to 1-10 in region play and finishes its regular season slate at Desert Hills on Tuesday.

Tuesday’s games

Cedar 3, Hurricane 0

At Cedar, the Reds picked up a shutout victory over the Hurricane Tigers. Levi Humphries, Tylan Murray and Mason Palmer each netted a goal for the Reds, while goalkeeper Dagan Murray earned the shutout.

The other two Region 10 games on Tuesday ended in penalty kick shoot outs.

Desert Hills 1, Pine View 1 (2-1 SO)

Austin Kogan scored for Pine View and Gage Lewis had the regulation tally for Desert Hills. The Thunder’s two shoot out scores won the match.

Dixie 0, Snow Canyon 0 (4-2 SO)

Regulation ended with no goals scored and neither team found the back of the net in the two overtime sessions. The Flyers four shoot out scores won the match.

Region 10 boys soccer standings, as of April 23

1. Crimson Cliffs, 8-2 (11-2).
2. Dixie, 8-2 (10-2).
3. Desert Hills, 6-4 (8-5).
4. Pine View, 5-5 (8-6).
5. Snow Canyon, 5-5 (7-6).
6. Cedar, 3-8 (5-9).
7. Hurricane, 1-10 (3-11).

Cedar City News reporter Jeff Richards contributed to this report.

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