Warden soccer blanks Royal
ROYAL CITY - The Warden Cougars got a much needed league road win Tuesday as the team beat the Royal Knights 3-0 in 1A SCAC action.
"It was a good win for us," coach Don Edson said. "I thought the girls played very well."
The contest was scoreless through the first 30 minutes of play until the Cougars Alyssa Edson (Brylee Whitney) found the back of the Knight box with a goal to put Warden up 1-0. The lead held up through intermission.
The Cougars Jennifer Mendoza put the only points on the board for either team in the second half of play with an unassisted goal at the 50th minute of play, and another at the 65th minute (Whitney) to round out the scoring, 3-0.
"Jennifer gives us a big lift coming off the bench," Edson said. "She's extremely fast and was able to take advantage of some balls played forward to her in the match."
The win over Royal improves Warden to 1-2 in league play and 2-3 overall.
The loss for the Knights drops Royal to 0-2 in the conference. Royal lost its first league match to Mabton 5-2.
"We are a new team as we graduated the entire squad and we are trying to get girls situated in the right positions and getting them trained up," coach Jens Jensen said. "It's a good group of girls who are improving each match, but at the moment, they are lacking he experience and edge they need to win tight games."
Despite the loss, Jensen was happy with the teams performance.
"This match was a decent one. We kept nearly all of Warden's shots outside the danger area and were able to cause some distress on their end," Jensen said. "The girls showed some ability to turn and pass the ball, so we are pleased with the progress."
Warden is back in action tonight when the team hosts KI-BE at 5:30 p.m.
"They are an excellent team, so we expect a really tough game," Edson said.
"They finished at the top of the standings in our half of the league last year and qualified for state. The girls should be up for the challenge as they are getting closer and closer to the way I know they can play."