Region 9 soccer: Snow Canyon upsets 6A powerhouse Davis

Snow Canyon's Heidi Smith (7), Snow Canyon vs. Davis, Girls Soccer, St. George, UT, Aug. 15, 2017, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – It was a perfect night for Region 9 girls soccer, with Canyon View and Hurricane coming away with easy wins and Snow Canyon pulling a stunner by defeating 6A powerhouse Davis.

All-totaled, Region 9 outscored its foes 17-1 on the evening. Here’s a look at the action:

Snow Canyon 2, Davis 1

Warriors coach Kenny Kunde put together a brutal three-game preseason schedule with SC squaring off against two 6A schools and one 5A school. No one would have been shocked if the Warriors came away frustrated in the preseason.

But the emotion was far from frustration Tuesday night at Warriors Stadium as Ashley Brindley scored unassisted off of a couple of Davis turnovers and the Warrior defense did the rest in the upset win.

“Davis was struggling to get games when we started this series three years ago,” Kunde said. “To be honest, I don’t think anyone wanted to play them because they were so good. But when he called me, I said ‘Heck, yes.'”

Snow Canyon’s Ashley Brindley (17), Snow Canyon vs. Davis, Girls Soccer, St. George, UT, Aug. 15, 2017, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

Snow Canyon was mercy-ruled (8-0) that first year, then played a much closer game last season, though it still ended in a 4-0 Darts victory.

But on Tuesday night, Snow Canyon was just the better team.

Brindley scored both goals and defender Grace Call and goalkeeper Megan Rodgers helped keep Davis off the scoreboard until late in the match as the Warriors improved to 1-0-1 on the season, with region play just a week away.

“It was an awesome night, the best effort I’ve every seen my team give,” Kunde said. “Led by Grace Call, the defense was phenomenal and Megan, well, she made some mistakes in the second half, but still played very well.”

Even though Snow Canyon controlled possession, the game was still a scoreless tie late in the first half. But in a scrum in front of the goal, Brindley managed to poke her foot in and put the Warriors on the board. Brindley, a junior, has become one of the offensive stars on this SC team.

“Ashley has a great left foot,” Kunde said. “She also is really good with the technical work. With her and Heidi Smith up front, boy when they figure out better how to read each other, they’re going to be just great.”

The score stayed 1-0 deep into the second half, but Snow Canyon picked up a huge goal with 18 minutes left on the clock when Brindley intercepted a clearing pass and took it in for her second goal. The blast by Brindley made it 2-0 and sent Davis into high-pressure mode.

Snow Canyon vs. Davis, Girls Soccer, St. George, UT, Aug. 15, 2017, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

“Boy, they really started to put the pressure on after that,” Kunde said. “I think our girls got a little scared or nervous, too. I mean, we were up two goals on an amazing Davis team.”

The Darts cut the lead to 2-1 with 14 minutes to play, meaning it was high-intensity for those last few minutes. Davis had two corner kick set pieces, plus a free kick from about 25 yards out that all tested the young keeper Rodgers and the senior Call’s fortitude.

“The girls gutted it out,” Kunde said. “Hopefully we can find a way to capture that same energy when region starts and not go in too over-confident.”

The Warriors close the preseason with a Thursday home match vs. East High School at 7:30 p.m. Region 9 soccer matches then begin as Snow Canyon opens with a road match at Pine View next Tuesday.

Hurricane 7, Payson 0

If the Lady Lions expected a home win against new 4A school Hurricane, they were sorely mistaken.

The visiting Tigers were able to use their bench liberally in the second half as an avalanche of goals (five) came before intermission.

Hurricane has played two preseason matches and has yet to allow a single goal while scoring 15 of its own.

Anna Hall was the star with three goals, but there were plenty to go around in the road win. Jayden Langford, Lena Stevens, Lydia Prince and Madelyn Hatch also scored and Madison Branch picked up her second straight shutout in goal.

Langford leads the team with four goals already this season as Hurricane, 2-0-0, gets itself ready for region play. The Lady Tigers have a home match vs. Skyridge Thursday night (5 p.m.), then will squeeze in a final preseason tune-up with a Saturday morning match vs. Springville (8 a.m.).

Hurricane opens Region 9 play next Tuesday with a 7:30 p.m. kickoff against Canyon View at Tigers Stadium.

Canyon View 8, Beaver 0

Answer: The highest scoring soccer player in the state. Question: Who is Morgan Haag of Canyon View.

Haag scored three more goals in the blowout win over the Beavers, giving her nine in three games for the Falcons, and Canyon View cruised to the mercy-rule home win.

It was 7-0 at halftime and Canyon View needed just one more goal to invoke the mercy rule. It came pretty quickly as the Falcons improved to 3-0-0 on the preseason.

Along with Haag’s hat trick, CV also got net-finders from Tylee Bulloch, Ruby Molina, Mia Smith and McKinlee Roundy. Bulloch scored twice and now has four on the season, second on the team to Haag.

The clean sheet was also recorded for Canyon View goalkeeper Jessica Hinck as she denied all of the rare shots the Falcons defense allowed. She has 18.5 shutouts in her high school career.

CV will take a week off now and prepare for its region opener next Tuesday at Hurricane. Last year, in a non-region game, Hurricane beat Canyon View 1-0.

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Twitter: @oldschoolag

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2017, all rights reserved.

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