Royal soccer at 10-5 season with Wahluke left to play

ROYAL CITY - Royal stopped Mabton, 3-1, and Connell, 2-0 last week to assure itself of a home game in the upcoming SCAC district soccer tournament.

District will start this Saturday at 11 a.m.with Royal (10-5) hosting most likely Warden. First there will be a SCAC regular season finale at arch-rival Wahluke (12-3) at 4 p.m. on Tuesday

The Connell match on Saturday was important for both clubs. Royal was trying to put itself out of reach of the teams below. Connell was fighting to force a tie-breaker with Mabton for the final spot into district.

"Connell had the wind in the first half and created a number of dangerous situations that required a few fortunate bounces and clearances off the line for us, but our boys held on," coach Jens Jensen said.

Royal grew into the match and scored before the break after earning a few corner kicks and putting some pressure on the penalty area. A corner ball flicked to the far post in the 35th minute was forced into the netting by Oscar Ramirez.

In the second half, the Knights had the wind and had one scare but, for the most part, controlled the play and kept pressuring. Cesar Bernal took advantage of heavy Connell legs and threaded himself through the defense to score in the 67th minute.

Royal's defense was tough throughout, limiting Connell to five shots. Keeper Miguel Alvarez had three saves.

The victory over Mabton came on Royal's senior night, and the boys played well. They created several good chances but found it difficult to get off of three goals. Royal led 3-0 at the half.

Scoring for the Knights were Cesar Bernal in the 2nd minute, Luis Garcia in the 34th minute and Tanner Christensen in the 40th minute. There were assists by Garcia, Christensen and Isidro DeLaRosa.