Royal Soccer Advances

BREWSTER - If it weren't for Wahluke being a soccer powerhouse, the Royal Knights would be unbeaten in 2011.

They showed their propensity for beating up everyone else last night as they thrashed hosts Brewster 4-1 in the first round of the Class 1A state soccer tournament.

Royal (17-3) advances to the state quarterfinals for the first time in school history where they play Columbia Basin rivals, the Warden Cougars, who also won their first round contest last night.

The game is set for Saturday with a time yet to be determined.

Royal methodically worked their offense up the field and finally got Adam Martinez free in the 11th minute and the Knight put away the scoring opportunity for a 1-0 lead.

Knights head coach Jens Jensen established a deeper defensive line in order to create some solid counter plays against a questionable back line.

"They are a good team they just had some holes," Jensen said. "We knew that defensively they would be weak so we just went ahead and waited to beat them on the break."

The scoring opportunities kept coming after the first  goal and Royal's Shaq Ledezma took advantage with two strikes in a span of four minutes and the Knights led 3-0 at halftime.

"We have been waiting for Shaq to break out in a big game and he came up huge for us in this match by scoring the next two goals doing what he does best," Jensen said. "He was forcing the ball into the net with his speed, commitment, and strength."

Martinez scored five minutes into the second half and Royal was in control from that point on.

"This was a match that could have been tricky with a long drive to Brewster against a team that finished at the top of their league and successfully navigated the District 6/7 tournament to finish first," Jensen said. "They were full of confidence and they had the season to back it up. Also none of us have played in Brewster and had no idea what to expect."

Royal outshot Brewster 16-10 in a match that got chippy in spots, with six yellow cards called.

The Knights will now take a few days to prepare for a showdown against a Cougars team they beat 3-0 earlier in a non-league game.

"We played Warden when at that time they had a player that was hurt who scores for them and that may change things," Jensen said. "We are certainly not considering this an easy game because we know Warden can play. We will do everything obviously we can to win."