Royal soccer makes first trip to state playoffs

Guerrero, Vega provide offense; goalie Arroyo defense

CONNELL — If history had any say in how the Royal soccer team should've performed Saturday at Connell, it would've given the Knights poor odds for a victory.

Instead, the Knights withstood an early charge from the Eagles, earning a halftime deadlock in the South Central Athletic Conference playoff game. The Eagles were running out of energy quickly and Royal knew it.

"We came into halftime and my boys were saying, 'They're getting tired, coach,'" Royal head coach Jens Jensen said. "My boys were a little more fit than they were."

With confidence and energy both wearing black and gold, the Knights struck quickly in the second half and surged to a 2-0 triumph, marking Royal's first-ever berth into the state soccer tournament and the program's first-ever win at Connell.

"(In the) first half, Connell came out hard," Jensen said. "They were really pushing the goal and they were obviously hoping they could steamroll us. We made some pretty major (defensive) errors in the first half but we were able to stick in there."

The mistakes that Royal's defense made weren't costly, thanks to a little luck and strong play from goalkeeper Ivan Arroyo, who finished with five saves on seven Connell shots.

That allowed Royal's Raul Guerrero to put his team ahead in the 44th minute. Guerrero made a spectacular run, Jensen said, beating three or four defenders before poking the ball past Connell goalkeeper Jose Garibay. Connell nearly cleared the ball off the goal line, but with a Royal attacker in hot pursuit, the Eagle defender only knocked the ball in.

Six minutes later, Royal got the knockout blow courtesy of Salvador Vega. He took a pass near the top of the penalty area and looped a well-placed shot into the far upper corner.

For second-year coach Jensen, beating Connell on the road for the first time was a tremendous accomplishment, as was the fact the Eagles eliminated the Knights from district play last spring.

Royal advanced to state playoff action as the SCAC's No. 3 seed, and will play Tuesday night at Caribou Trail League champion Cascade of Leavenworth. The contest takes place at Wenatchee's Apple Bowl at 6 p.m.

Jensen said he knew very little about the Kodiaks, but expected a stern challenge. Cascade does score a lot of goals and figures to feed off its close-to-home crowd.

"Being the underdog is a good thing sometimes," Jensen said. "I know historically the CTL has been weaker (than the SCAC), but I don't think that means anything."

As for the implications in making the program's first state appearance, Jensen hopes it will bring more kids out in the future and create a mindset that the Knights can compete with traditional SCAC powers like Connell and Wahluke.

"Hopefully it's inspiration and it's a kind of breaking through feeling," he said.