Royal soccer wins twice in same week, knocking off Ki-Be
Cynthia Rodriguez of Royal gets off a pass before No. 15 of Wahluke can disrupt her play.
ROYAL CITY — After struggling all season for a single victory, the Royal High soccer team won two SCAC matches last week, stunning powerful Kiona-Benton.
“I cannot remember the last time we beat Ki-Be,” coach Jens Jensen said. “On the years that we have made it past the first round of districts, we have met Ki-Be and they have kept us from advancing to the state tournament.”
Revenge was sweet. Not only did Royal win, but the Knights posted a 1-0 shutout in yet another 1-goal match. The earlier win last week was a 1-goaler, with Royal topping Wahluke, 2-1, in overtime.
Royal will have a tough time making the post-season, but it still can. The Knights are 3-4 and tie for fourth place in the SCAC East standings. The team ahead of them in the battle for 3rd and the final spot in the playoffs has a 3-3-1 mark.
“We need to take care of Granger, and we need to get points from Ki-Be, Warden, or Connell,” Jensen said. “The girls made a huge leap against Ki-Be by forcing the match to a shootout and getting the win.”
The Knights made all four of their shots to take the shootout, 4-2.
“The spirit of the team has been great all season, but it is especially good right now,” Jensen said.
As in their first meeting, the Royal land Wahluke teams were evenly matched. Wahluke broke the scoring ice with a goal in the first half.
“We made some serious changes to the shape and personnel for the second half to create some more pressure,” Jensen said.
Yajaira Michel scored, with an assist from Jenny Ledezma, to even things up before regulation time ran out. In overtime, Ledezma scored on a penalty kick for a handball called against Wahluke near the Wahluke goal.
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