Royal claims first SCAC East Conference Title
Bob Kirkpatrick/The Sun Tribune - Midfielder Juan Ojeda fends off two defenders for control of the ball in the match against the Eagles in Connell Friday.
BENTON CITY — The Royal Knights captured the East Conference Title with a 6-0 road win over Ki-Be Tuesday, marking the first time the team has accomplished the feat in school history.
It was the seventh win-in-a-row for Royal, which has a full head of steam heading into postseason play.
“We are excited and happy to lead the league for the first time,” coach Jens Jensen said. “We knew we would need to win out after dropping two league matches in the middle of the season. We all hoped we could do so (claim the title), and now we know that can happen and we can point to this season as evidence.”
The Knights struck three times in each half of action. Alex Contreras got things going early with a goal 40 seconds into the fuss off a Michael Rojas assist. Rojas made it 2-0 at the 2:57 mark of the contest. Oscar Castro rounded out the first-half scoring with an unassisted goal during stoppage time.
The fourth score of the match was an own goal by the Bears. Back-to-back goals by Antonio Barragan off assists from CJ Quintero at 71:03 and 76:45 in the match wrapped up the shut out and the East Conference Title for Royal.
“While the ultimate goal is to win a state championship, winning the league is a big deal in the soccer world,” Jensen said. “The nature of the game of soccer is that a weaker team can win a single game — in a loser out tournament situation for example — but over the course of a season the results should even out to the point where the strongest team emerges.”
Postseason play gets underway Thursday. Royal will host the Naches Valley Rangers who finished fourth in the West Conference, in the first round of district action. The match gets underway at 6 p.m.
“They will present a problem in the sense that they will be extremely stubborn,” Jensen said. “Historically, they have been a team that plays a physical style and focuses on defending. In the attack, they look to take advantage of long throw-ins and free kicks by pushing some of the tall timber forward and getting creative in an effort to shed their defenders. We will have to do a good job being disciplined and focused so we do not get sucker-punched.”
Royal 1, Connell 0
Michael Rojas’ free kick bounced in front of the Connell keeper who spilled it out to an onrushing Juan Ojeda who then rocketed the rebound to the back of the box and the Knights pulled out a 1-0 double overtime win on the road Friday.
The victory gave Royal command of the SCAC East Conference with one game left in the regular season.
“The match was an absolute battle — the referee allowed everything and both teams escalated the physical play.
“We had some chances early and looked dangerous on set pieces and Connell had a shot come off the upright. Regulation ended 0-0,” coach Jens Jensen said. “The win puts us in a great position to win at Ki-Be and claim our first ever league title.”
CJ Quintero was masterful defending the box for the Knights rejecting four shots on goals by the Eagles.