Region 10 girls soccer: Snow Canyon takes lead in tight race; Desert Hills, Cedar right behind

Written by E. George Goold
September 23, 2022

ST. GEORGE — With time winding down and the 4A state playoffs approaching, Region 10 soccer teams are staking their claims for the championship.

Thursday night in Santa Clara, Snow Canyon defeated Desert Hills 2-1 for the second time this season, moving the Warriors into the first-place position.

Meanwhile, Cedar kept pace right behind the region leaders after a 2-1 home victory over Hurricane, while Crimson Cliffs beat Pine View 4-0 on the road.

Following are recaps from this week’s Region 10 games, starting with Thursday night’s action.

Snow Canyon 2, Desert Hills 1

The Warriors and the Thunder knew that the game would go a long way towards a championship with both teams entering the contest at 7-1 in Region 10.

Snow Canyon defeats Desert Hills 2-1 in a Region 10 soccer match, St. George, Utah, Sept. 22, 2022 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

Every ball was contested and every shot was fought for in a thrilling match between the rivals.

“Both times we played Desert Hills, I’ve been extremely pleased with the effort we put in,” Snow Canyon’s first-year head coach Conner Brown told St. George News after the win.

“Start to finish, it’s 100%. It’s a fast-paced game because this is another really good team,” Brown added. “But the girls were prepared mentally, we had a game plan and they executed it.”

Senior Andrea Gaona tallied in the first half for Desert Hills, collecting a rebound and kicking it through the outstretched hands of Snow Canyon freshman goalkeeper Tori Martin.

But then Snow Canyon regrouped at halftime and netted back-to-back scores less than five minutes into the second half.

“The same thing happened at Desert Hills, they scored first,” Brown said. “So I just said to them we’ve been here before, we’ve been down this road and we’ve seen before what happened. And we told them to come out with some fire, and they did that and they executed perfectly.”

Ashlee Harris and Chloe Vowell scored the Snow Canyon goals while Vowell and Lilly Wittwer collected assists.

While Snow Canyon is in first place of Region 10 right now at 8-1, the Warriors have much work remaining, beginning with Tuesday’s showdown at home against Cedar at 7:30 p.m.

“We’ve just got to reset, go back to our foundations of how we play the game,” Brown said. “Cedar isn’t as used to turf, and we hope to exploit that. Control the ball, control the tempo of the game and let the girls do their thing and we feel confident.”

Crimson Cliffs 4, Pine View 0

The Mustangs scored once in the first half and thrice in the second half to secure the strong road victory.

Scoring goals for Crimson Cliffs were Rylee Mitchell, Paisley Hinton, Isabella Cotter and Avery Cardenas.

The Mustangs improved to 6-9 overall and evened their Region 10 record at 5-5. Crimson hosts Dixie on Tuesday next week at 7:30 p.m.

Pine View fell to 1-12 on the season and is winless in Region 10. The Panthers play their final game of the season at home against Dixie on Sept. 29.

Cedar 2, Hurricane 1

The Reds and Tigers battled to a scoreless first half and then scored three markers in the second session.

Keanna Tolman and Kenzie Bird scored for Cedar, which improved to 10-3 overall after the win. The Reds are tied for second place in Region 10 with Desert Hills at 7-2.

A huge game in the standings will be 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Snow Canyon when the Reds and Warriors meet for the second time this season. Cedar defeated the Warriors 4-3 on Sept. 1.

Meanwhile, Hurricane is 4-9 overall and 3-7 in Region 10 play after the setback. Hurricane’s next game is Tuesday at Desert Hills at 7:30 p.m.

Game scores from Tuesday, Sept. 20

  • Crimson Cliffs 3, Hurricane 2.
  • Desert Hills 7, Pine View 0.
  • Snow Canyon 6, Dixie 2.

Region 10 girls soccer standings as of Sept. 23 (region, overall)

  1. Snow Canyon 8-1, 10-3 (RPI: 5th).
  2. Desert Hills 7-2, 10-4 (RPI: 3rd).
  3. Cedar 7-2, 10-3 (RPI: 6th).
  4. Crimson Cliffs 5-5, 6-9 (RPI: 8th).
  5. Dixie 3-6, 3-11 (RPI: 10th).
  6. Hurricane 3-7, 4-9 (RPI: 12th).
  7. Pine View 0-10, 1-12 (RPI: 13th).

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, 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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