Royal holds off Highland to advance to SCAC 1A District 5 soccer final
Rodney Harwood/Columbia Basin Herald Royal senior Michael Rojas (7) puts the winning shot on goal during a penalty kick in the 67th minute of Tuesday's 1A District 5 second-round match with Highland. The Knights advanced with a 1-nil victory.
Rodney Harwood/Columbia Basin Herald Royal players congratulate senior Michael Rojas after scoring on a penalty kick in the 67th minute of Tuesday's 1A district semifinal game at David Nielsen Memorial Stadium. The shot proved to be the game-winner and the Knights advanced.
Rodney Harwood/Columbia Basin Herald Royal striker Uriel Garcia (21) closes on Highland defender Carlos Lopez (8) as he clears a ball in the Scotties' defensive end in the first half of Tuesday's 1A District 5 second-round match at David Nielsen Stadium.
ROYAL CITY — The good news is, Royal goalkeeper Ty Miller has played 638 minutes without surrendering a goal, dating back to April 20 when Wahluke scored inside of the final two minutes.
The bad news, if you want to call it that, is the sophomore is going to have to do it all over again when the Warriors (13-4-1) come to town on Thursday night for the SCAC 1A District 5 boys soccer final.
As for Tuesday’s second-round match against Highland (9-6-2), the Knights pulled the lever on the slot machine and watched it come up three 7s one more time.
Michael Rojas (No. 7), who’s headed to the University of Washington next fall, sized up Scotties goalkeeper Omar Ramos as he stood at the 12-yard mark for a penalty kick in the 67th minute. Even though the Knights (16-3) out-shot the Scotties 11-2, this was the defining moment and Rojas was money one more time with a shot high and away to the far post for the match’s only score.
Royal won 1-nil at David Nielsen Memorial Stadium to set up one last showdown with Wahluke for the SCAC District 5 championship.
“They were extremely compact with just one guy up top. They came here to either get something on a set piece like a corner or free kick or try and win in a shootout,” said Royal coach Jens Jensen, whose team is on an 11-game winning streak, having won 14 of their last 15. “They only had a couple of shots on goal and we did a good job of wearing them down.
“Their foul was the result of the defender being tired and we took advantage of it. It wasn’t pretty, but we’re moving on.”
For Highland, the strategy was marking Rojas with five and try to make something happen on the break. They took it all the way to 66:51 in a scoreless tie before they made a mistake taking down Isidro Torres as he pushed into the box from the left wing. Rojas took his time and buried the game-winner.
“He was a small keeper, so before I got the ball, I knew that I had to go left,” Rojas said. “Going high is more dangerous, but that’s where he was vulnerable.
“I try to hit all ball and get some velocity on it. I got everything I wanted to on the shot.”
The 11-game winning streak is goal-fueled to be sure, scoring 43 goals in 11 games, but that is equally matched by a defense that has given up just one goal in that time period. The defense pitched its fifth consecutive shutout and its seventh in the last eight matches. Miller was virtually unchallenged all day because of the play out front.
“We take pride in our defense,” defender Angel Farias said. “We’re like a wall and we’ve had a lot of people step up. Ty’s pretty quiet and he let’s us play our own game. The did a good job keeping them out of the box on the corner kicks and holding them to just two shots on goal.”
The Knights clinched a 1A state tournament berth and Thursday’s district championship match with Wahluke will determine the seeding.