Royal dominates Mabton

Derrick Pacheco

Herald sports editor

MOSES LAKE — The Knights shook of a 4-0 loss to Highland Tuesday to roll past the visiting Mabton Vikings 10-1 in non-conference soccer competition.

Royal head coach Jens Jensen said his team took a few minutes to shake off the cobwebs following the loss to Highland earlier this week.

“The first half was shaky at first,” he said of his team’s game against Mabton.

Royal jumped on the scoreboard three minutes into the first half when  sophomore Shaq Ledezma beat the Mabton goalie for an unassisted goal and a 1-0 Knights lead.

This is the first year the team is playing on the new field turf at David Nielsen Memorial Stadium in Royal City and Jensen said his team is playing solid soccer.

“It’s kind of a home-field advantage for us with the surface and the stadium,” he said. “We have been playing really well here.”

Jensen is right.

Royal pushed their lead to 2-0 with 18 minutes left in the first half when Ledezma fielded a pass from Elias Corona  and found the back of the net for his second goal of the night.

The Knights eventually pushed the first-half advantage to 4-0 heading into the locker room.

Although Royal took a 4-0 lead at the half and eventually won the match 10-1, Jensen said he was impressed with the first-year Vikings.

“For Mabton, this is their first year,” he said. “They are not a bad team. I don’t know if 10-1 is reflective of their ability. They are a better team than that.”

Ledezma earned the hat trick six minutes into the second half when he scored his second unassisted goal of the contest for a 5-0 Royal lead. Ledezma finished with four goals in the victory. Royal’s Roman Trujillo added two goals of his own for the Knights.

While the Knights earned the non-conference victory, Jensen said it was nice to see his team rebound from Tuesday’s loss.

“It was a good game,” he said. “It’s still the preseason, but it’s always good to play well.”

Highland 3, Warden 2, OT

WARDEN —The Warden Cougars soccer team led for the majority of Tuesday’s game with visiting Highland before a Scots goal at the end of regulation tied the match 2-2.

The Cougars and Scots went to sudden-death overtime after a Highland goal late in the second half tied the game, said Warden Athletic Director Gary Brandt.

“We led the whole game until overtime,” Brandt said of the boys soccer team. “(Highland) scored with 10 seconds left in regulation.”

After the game went to a sudden-death overtime period, Highland managed to find the back of the net for a 3-2 victory.

Warden head soccer coach Ed Aguilar could not be reached for comment.