Knights take down Kiona-Benton on senior night

ROYAL CITY — Missing three starters due to injuries, the Royal Knights put up a strong defensive performance in Tuesday night’s regular-season finale against Kiona-Benton, defeating the Bears 1-0 while posting their eighth clean sheet of the season.

Sophomore Maggie Frank scored the lone goal of the match, connecting on a long shot early in the second half.

“For us, coming into this, we’ve got to find a way to win and be difficult to beat, and hope that something goes your way – you get a corner, you get a free kick, you get a wonder goal from Maggie (Frank),” Royal head coach Jens Jensen said. “That’s what we got today, we were fortunate.”

Tied at zero through the first 40 minutes, Royal had hung well with a Kiona-Benton team that has been able to score in flurries throughout the season, and even took down league-leading Cashmere for their first South Central Athletic Conference loss. While the Bears had five shots on target in the first half, each of them was saved by freshman goalkeeper Grace Soliz.

“‘We just need 40 minutes of what you’ve got to try and lock it down, waste time, just make it frustrating and maybe something will go our way,’” Jensen said of the halftime discussion. “Just be compact, be disciplined and be organized for 40 more minutes. They bent, but sometimes you don’t break.”

Nine minutes into the second half, Frank received a pass from teammate Alejandra Orozco and fired off a shot from 30 yards out, placing the ball high near the crossbar and over the outstretched fingertips of the Kiona-Benton goalkeeper to give the Knights a 1-0 lead.

“I knew we had to take any opportunities that we had, so I just saw the opportunity and took that shot,” Frank said. “It was a good shot.”

With the lead, Royal held down defensively throughout the remaining 31 minutes of the match; Kiona-Benton had plenty of scoring chances, including two breakaways where shots were missed wide of the net and two free kicks in the attacking third over the final 10 minutes, but each time the Knights were able to break up passes near the net and clear the ball.

Soliz finished the match with nine saves.

“I was like, ‘They’re not going to get a shot off, they’re not going to score – especially this late in the game,’” Soliz said. “Getting the defense to mark up on people, just make sure they’re not going to score.”

Royal entered the match riding a four-game winning streak, picking up wins over Zillah (1-0), Connell (1-0), Wapato (4-1) and College Place (4-2) over the previous two weeks, but was dealing with injuries at center forward, center back and left back Tuesday against the Bears.

With the missing starters, the Knights opted for a defensive-heavy shape against Kiona-Benton.

“We’ve been working on back four basically every practice just trying to help them get ready and to be organized,” Jensen said. “We were more defensive, but we needed to still stretch the (Kiona-Benton) defense, so Jill (Allred) goes from the outside mid to up top and uses her speed, and she’s getting behind and causing them trouble. We forced the defense to be honest, and that opens up space in the midfield.”

With their formation favoring stronger defensive play, scoring opportunities would be limited.

“We’ve been switching our lineups, and (Jensen) was telling us before the game ‘It’s a different way of playing, but we still have a chance with this different way,’” Frank said. “With that change, we knew we could still find a way.”

District playoffs begin Thursday for the SCAC; Royal finished the regular season with a 12-4 record and third place in the league standings. Cashmere won the league and Naches Valley took second.

“We’re going to have to play in this different way, we have no other choice,” Jensen said. “... We come up against some of these better teams, we’ve got to do the same thing. How can we frustrate them, and how can we stretch their defense and get them out of their shape?”

Tuesday night was senior night for the Knights, who celebrated seniors Anyeliq Miron, Audrey Bergeson and Lauren Jenks before the match.

“They’re fantastic, and they’re really good girls too,” Jensen said. “They’re great to have around. We’ve got a team full of great characters.”

Royal earned a No. 4 seed in the District 5/6 1A tournament, as the SCAC combines with the Caribou Trail League to determine state berths. The Knights will play Kiona-Benton again Thursday at home at 6 p.m. The winner advances to play either No. 1 Cashmere or No. 8 College Place on Saturday.

Box score 

KiBe: 0-0 0

RYL: 0-1 1

    Royal sophomore Maggie Frank (14) scored the lone goal of the match, connecting on a deep shot in the 49th minute.
  

    Royal junior Taylor Webb (9) runs up the field with the ball during the first half against Kiona-Benton on Tuesday.
  

    Royal freshman Grace Soliz saves a Kiona-Benton shot attempt during the first half. Soliz finished the match with nine saves.