Knights fall in second round of state tourney

WHITE SALMON, Wash. – The Knights boys soccer (16-4) was defeated 2-1 by King’s High School (13-5-2) at Columbia High School on Friday. Head coach Jens Jensen spoke about his players struggles against King’s.  

“We didn't really have the opportunity to show our ability to move the ball, our ability to have some creativity. There was really no provision for speed, because there's nowhere to go,” he said.  

Columbia High School's field met the minimum requirement for size at 55 yards, but the Knights were playing with less space than they were accustomed to.  

“We had a really hard time adjusting to that. We're very used to having room and playing on the ground and attacking, attacking in the from the outsides, and unfortunately, we just had a really hard time finding that,” Jensen said.  

In the first five minutes, King’s was able to score their first goal of the game, which shifted the momentum in their favor. Before halftime, they were able to control possession of the ball and score for a second time, increasing their lead to 2-0.  

In the second half, the Knights would score their only goal of the game thanks to midfielder Anderson Brown after an assist by Junior forward Shea Stevenson. After that goal, King’s continued to be imposing on the Knights' efforts to get back into the game and secure the second-round victory.  

“We had some other opportunities for sure, but the reality was, is that King showed up and they were prepared to just play an extremely physical game,” Jensen said.  

The Knights aspired to make the final four of the state tournament. Despite the loss, Jensen remained encouraging to his players and reminded them of what they were able to accomplish this year.  

“We showed up and hopefully we performed in a way that represented ourselves well, our community well, our school well,” Jensen said, “And that, in the end, the most important thing is, is even though we're doing absolutely everything we can to win, when it's over, it's over, and the relationships that we share and the lessons that we learned, those things are not defined by who happened to win or lose one game, and so we take those lessons and we allow those to make us better people, stronger people and more resilient.” 

The Knights will be graduating five seniors this year and will look to reload their roster in order to make another run next season, according to Jensen. One key figure the Knights will have to replace is goalkeeper Alex Arceo, who Jensen and other players call "Pitbull."

“Every great team that I've had has always had a special goalkeeper and he has been a special goalkeeper for us and that's one that's going to be tough to replace, but if we can find an answer there, there's absolutely no reason why we can't just come back again next year and make another run,” Jensen said.  

Victor Aquino, another senior for the Knights, led the team this year with 12 assists. Returning player for the Knights, Anderson Brown, led the team with 24 goals. 

    The Knights celebrated their second straight district championship after defeating Wapato. They would get a first-round bye before losing to King’s in the state tournament.