Royal High School advances to 7-1 in boys soccer

ROYAL CITY - The Royal High School soccer team is putting together a championship type of season, posting two shutouts last week to advance to 6-1 in the South Central A Conference and 7-1 overall.

The lone loss for the Knights has been a 2-1 squeaker against defending state champ Wahluke. That double overtime contest could have gone either way.

Royal resumes action today at Granger at 4 p.m. Saturday it will host Mabton at 11 a.m.

Last week's contests were a 3-0 test from Warden and a 9-0 blowout of Kiona-Benton. The Warden game was 1-0 at the half.

"They defend well by getting men behind the ball as quickly as possible," coach Jens Jensen said.

But, Jensen added, once the Knights scored the first goal, the Cougar defense was forced to "open up," creating opportunities for the Royal offense.

Royal's goals were scored by Elias Corona, Luis Esquivel and Luis Gallardo. Adam Martinez had two assists. Esquivel score the first goal in the 40th minute.

Kiona-Benton was over-matched from the outset, falling behind 5-0 at the half. Martinez led the way with three goals, including the first one in the 11th minute. Christian Guerrero assisted on that goal, then scored the third goal in the 20th minute.

Lupe Arceo scored two goals, and Enrique Torres, Brian Gallardo and Jose Nava scored one goal each.

Ki-Be's offense never mounted a threat, and Royal keepers had no opportunities at saves. Arceo had five saves in the Warden contest. Royal had 14 shots on goal against Warden and 17 against Ki-Be.