Connell's Guizar nets four on shorthanded Royal soccer
Royal goalkeeper Alyssa Presgraves pounces on a loose ball during the first half as Connell's Susana Valencia (17) and Royal's Cierra Miller arrive late.
ROYAL CITY - Playing without your starting goalkeeper against perhaps the best squad in your division isn't the ideal situation.
But it was the situation the Royal Lady Knights faced Tuesday afternoon when they opened South Central Athletic Conference play against the Connell Eagles. After hanging tough for a half, Connell buried Royal in the second half for a 5-0 triumph - four of the goals coming courtesy of sophomore Elizabeth Guizar.
The Knights' starter-to-be in goal, junior Danni Callahan, isn't eligible yet, so head coach Jens Jensen put senior defender Alyssa Presgraves between the pipes. That shift seemed to affect Royal's entire lineup and had a negative impact on the team's ability to play a full 80 minutes.
The teams played to a very defensive-minded draw through the first 20 minutes before Royal made its first costly mistake. The Knights failed to clear the ball from the penalty area, and Guizar ripped a shot past Presgraves to the far post.
While the Eagles controlled the possession and scoring chances for the remainder of the half, and with the Knights trailing 1-0 at halftime, Jensen elected to move speedy junior Cierra Miller from defense to forward in the hope of an equalizer.
"Whether you lose 1-0 or 5-0, you still lose," Jensen rationalized. "We had to change some things around, because first half I don't think we had a single shot on goal."
Miller, who'd never played forward before, nearly made good on her coach's strategy - twice. She forced Connell keeper Meci Whitby into a save in the first minute, then barely missed beating a defender to a loose ball and what would've been a breakaway opportunity.
"We score there, suddenly it's 1-1 and the game is different," Jensen said. "(Miller is) probably the fastest and best defender we have. But we had no other choice - we had to take some chances, and when we did, that's why we lost."
Guizar quickly capitalized in the 49th minute, getting behind the defense off a long free kick. She completed her hat trick three minutes later, taking a right-to-left crossing pass from Sarah McGary and beating Presgraves with a low shot.
Guizar's fourth goal came in the 68th minute, and Connell's Yessenia Vergara added the Eagles' final tally one minute from stoppage time on a 15-yard kick that grazed off Presgraves' fingertips.
Connell had 17 shots on goal to Royal's five. Presgraves was credited with eight saves and Connell's Whitby had three.
Jensen believed Callahan's pending addition to the lineup will help, allowing Presgraves to shore up the defensive backfield and keeping Miller - probably the team's fastest player - up front.
"That'll make a big difference," he said. "I'm not saying we're suddenly going to be 100 times better, but it will help things quite a bit."
The Knights (1-4 overall, 0-1 SCAC) don't play again until Saturday, when they travel to Kiona-Benton for an 11 a.m. start.
Jensen's biggest problem at this point his squad's inexperience level. The Knights have nine seniors on the roster, but that's deceiving, he said.
"You'd think that equals a really skilled team," Jensen said, "but the reality is, out of the 20 girls I have on the team, I've got five returners. Out of those five, zero play at any other time (of year). That's a challenge."
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