Royal reverses loss to Wahluke in re-play

Abel Dominguez of Royal (5) and two LaSalle players look on as Oscar Castro (17) executes a header during a game Royal won, 5-0.

Royal forward Michael Rojas dribbles the ball between two LaSalle defenders during a game Royal won, 5-0.

by Sun Tribune Editor & Ted Escobar
| April 1, 2016 6:00 AM

Royal forward Michael Rojas dribbles the ball between two LaSalle defenders during a game Royal won, 5-0.

ROYAL CITY — Given new life by a protest upheld by the SCAC, Royal reversed a loss to Wahluke in a soccer league opener on March 17 from a 2-1 loss to a 2-1 win.

Royal protested a referee’s call during the shootout while the shootout score was 3-2 in favor of Royal. The ref called the Wahluke tender for jumping over his line for Royal’s fourth kick.

Then the ref said the score remained 3-2 because the kicker missed. Wahluke went on to win the shootout 4-3 and the match, 2-1.

Royal coach Jens Jensen protested the call, saying his player should have been awarded a re-kick. League officials agreed with Jensen and ordered the shootout to be replayed at Wahluke last Friday from the point of the ref’s call.

The overall score was 1-1 when the game resumed, and the shootout score was 3-2 in favor of Royal. Royal’s Israel Cortez shot first and scored. Emanuel Hidalgo of Wahluke made his kick, and the score was 4-3.

After Danny Cuevas of Royal had his shot saved by Wahluke tender Ulysses Gonzalez, Elian Rivera of Wahluke stepped up with a chance to tie the shootout score and continue the match. His kick sailed high and over the goal. Royal won with a 2-1 final, and its record was revised to 2-0 on March 17.

Since March 17, the Knights have Connell, Kiona-Benton, Cascade and Granger.

In the 8-1 victory over Ki-be, the Knights struggled a bit in the first half with the sun and wind in their faces but, in second half, Royal found more success in front of goal.

“Ki-Be had a much larger group of players this year, which could mean good things for their future success,” Jensen said.

But this Ki-Be match-up was like all recent ones. Ki-Be had a tough time keeping up. Royal led 3-1 at the half and exploded for five goals in the second half.

The Royal attack was led by midfielder Michael Rojas. He took five shots on goal. Forward Jose Ponce and defender Alex Contreras took four each. Royal took 21 shots.

Meanwhile, Ki-Be had only one shot on goal which was successful. But the Bears never led.

Contreras scored in the 15th and 19th minutes. The second goal was made off an assist by midfielder Danny Cuevas. Ki-Be scored in the 20th minute, and Ponce answered in the 39th minute off assists by Contreras and Israel Cortez.

The second half saw two goals by Oscar Castro and one each by Ponce, Rojas and Contreras. There were assists by Ponce, Cuevas and Rojas.