Royal drops district match

ROYAL CITY - A fine soccer season for the Royal High School Knights came to a close with a 4-1 loss at Granger last Saturday in the opening round of the SCAC District Tournament.

The Knights started off struggling in the first half, giving up two "blushing" goals.

Fifteen minutes into the second half, coach Jens Jensen made tactical changes to his attack formation in an effort to "throw everything forward."

The changes created opportunities, but all of the shots on goal went straight to the Spartan keeper or glanced off the uprights. The changes also left the Royal defense open and vulnerable at the back, and it gave up two more goals.

Royal's lone goal came from Jose Ponce on a penalty kick awarded for a Granger hand ball in the Spartan penalty area.

"It is a bummer, but Granger is a good team, and they have a number of dynamic attacking players," Jensen said. "This year we lived and died on our attack, and Friday we had an off-day."