ST. GEORGE — The action on the pitch is set to be fast and furious this year.
Region 9 boys soccer teams picked up the gauntlet of region play with two shootouts and a comfortable win for Dixie last Friday night.
The Flyers are off to a 4-0 start on the season and are 2-0 in region play, with a 10-2 goal differential in those two wins.
Snow Canyon (2-1 overall) is also 2-0 in Region 9 games. Desert Hills is 2-1, 1-0 and Crimson Cliffs sits at 2-2, 1-1 here at the start of the season.
Meanwhile Pine View, Hurricane and Cedar City are a combined 0-11 overall so far this year and are a combined 0-6 in Region 9 games.
Here’s a look at Region 9 boys soccer games from Friday, March 22.
Desert Hills 1, Crimson Cliffs 1 2OT (Desert Hills 4-1 SO)
In a classic backyard rivalry match, Desert Hills scored first in regulation, then held on to prevail in a shootout against the Mustangs.
Both teams played with a higher level of physicality and emotion than they might display in other regular season games.
“There’s always been that rivalry, you’re going to play a little rougher,” Desert Hills coach Benji Nelson told St. George News. “These boys have learned over the last few years that if we’re not physical, the other teams up north are a lot more physical, they get away with a lot more.”
“So we’re training for that,” he said.
Both Desert Hills and Crimson Cliffs were eliminated by Mountain Crest in the 4A state playoffs last year. Mountain Crest then fell in the finals to fellow Region 11 squad Green Canyon, the defending state champs this year.
The Thunder and Mustangs played a scoreless first half but both teams had a couple of prime scoring opportunities that they didn’t finish.
Crimson goalkeeper Brody Fielding thwarted almost all of the Thunder’s best opportunities during regulation. He finished with 12 saves.
“We had some great chances, we just didn’t quite finish a lot of them. Their keeper made several good saves,” Nelson said.
In the other cage, Thunder junior goalkeeper Aiden Chinn came up big throughout the contest and then especially in the shootout, when he made two point-blank stops.
“It was an evenly matched game, but we worked our hardest and we did everything we could,” Chinn said. “We played our game and came out on top.”
About midway through the second half, Desert Hills got the first marker when senior Karson Clark punched home an assist from Dillon Bingham.
Crimson ratcheted up the pressure as time ticked away, finding the equalizer at around the two-minute mark, when senior Ryan Smith blasted one past Chinn and scored unassisted for the Mustangs.
Both overtime sessions quickly sped by, and the decisive shootout didn’t need to go five rounds.
Chinn made his two stops and then Kason Davis buried his PK to seal the deal 4-1 for Desert Hills.
“I just take what my teammates tell me about the other players,” Chinn said about his mindset during the nerve-wracking shootout. “I just go my hardest one way or the other and just hope for the best.”
The emotional rollercoaster of a game was just the beginning of the Region 9 schedule for Desert Hills.
“We’re not going to take anything for granted, it’s just one game and I know Crimson is a good team,” Nelson said. “It’s going to be fun to get to play them again at our place.”
Snow Canyon 1, Pine View 1 2OT (Snow Canyon 5-3 SO)
The second Friday night shootout found the Warriors prevailing over the Panthers.
Statistics from the game were unavailable.
Dixie 6, Hurricane 1
The Flyers got solo tallies from six different players in the win: Gunnar Woods, Alex Soto, Pablo Diaz, Kimball Carter, Taylor Kogan and Melvin Contreras.
Wyatt Woods scored for the Tigers in the first half, which found Hurricane trailing 2-1.
Dixie cemented the win with four unanswered markers in the second half. Iker Meza recorded four assists in the win while Tucker McNary contributed a single helper to Dixie’s cause.
Photo Gallery
Crimson Cliffs' Ivan Tovmash (left) works the ball against Desert Hills in a Region 9 boys soccer match, Washington, Utah, March 22, 2024 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News
Crimson Cliffs' Ivan Tovmash (middle) works the ball against Desert Hills in a Region 9 boys soccer match, Washington, Utah, March 22, 2024 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News
Desert Hills' Karson Clark (left) works the ball against Crimson Cliffs in a Region 9 boys soccer match, Washington, Utah, March 22, 2024 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News
Desert Hills' Boone Heaton (right) works the ball against Crimson Cliffs in a Region 9 boys soccer match, Washington, Utah, March 22, 2024 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News
Desert Hills goalkeeper Aidan Chinn (right) goes up for a save against Crimson Cliffs in a Region 9 soccer match, Washington, Utah, March 22, 2024 | Photo courtesy Jen Fairbanks for St. George News
Desert Hills' Kason Davis (center) goes up for a header against Crimson Cliffs in a Region 9 soccer match, Washington, Utah, March 22, 2024 | Photo courtesy Jen Fairbanks for St. George News
Crimson Cliffs' Ryan Smith (center) tracks down a ball against Desert Hills in a Region 9 soccer match, Washington, Utah, March 22, 2024 | Photo courtesy Jen Fairbanks for St. George News
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