Royal nips Wahluke, 2-1, and takes over second place

Royal Knights Soccer

by Royal Register Editor & Ted Escobar
| April 9, 2012 6:00 AM

ROYAL CITY - Royal rebounded from a loss to Highland a week earlier to upend defending state champ Wahluke, 2-1, on Saturday in South Central A Conference soccer at Royal.

The Knights were led by forward Juan Ramirez, who attacked all afternooon, got four shots on goal and scored twice. And goalie Lupe Arceo turned in four saves.

"It was nice to get back to winning ways against an always quality Wahluke side," Royal coach Jens Jensen said.

Ramirez, who's been hurt and seen limited action, broke a 1-1 tie at the 63:37 mark with an unassisted goal. Charging in from the right side, he got past three defenders to score from 12 yards. Then the Royal defense held off a furious Wahluke rally attempt.

"The rest of the boys played well and adjusted well to the pressure," Jensen said.

The win moved Royal into second place in the SCAC with a 5-1 record. Wahluke, which won the last two state titles, fell to 3-3.

Ramirez opened the scoring near the end of the first half, converting an Enrique Torres feed at the 38:59 mark. Wahluke returned the favor 12 minutes into the second with an unassisted goal by E. Cruz.

Cruz had three shots on goal. Goalie Cesar Tlatelpa had six saves against a Royal attack that featured nine shots on goal.

"It was a tight match but, all in all, a good victory as things fell our way in the same way that it seemed to happen for Wahluke last year," Jensen said.

Wahluke won four match-ups with Royal last year, all by one goal.