Knights dominate on the pitch

ROYAL CITY — The Royal Knights (9-2-1) earned a dominant home victory over the Zillah Leopards. Their 8-0 win extends their current win streak to seven straight.  

“We played some different guys, and we're still able to get some goals early, which let us play everyone and move some guys around...things went good,” Head Coach Jens Jensen said.  

So good in fact, the Knights went on the attack right away and were able to build a commanding lead early in the first half. By the 20-minute mark of the first half, the Knights took a 3-0 lead and added one more before halftime. In the second half, they continued to be aggressive in their attack, taking several shots on goal. By the 72-minute mark, Royal scored their eighth goal to seal the win over Zillah at home.  

Despite the weather dropping in temperature and a pickup in wind prior to the game, Jensen felt his players responded well.  

“Having the wind is nice. We want to play on the ground and when you have the wind like that, it really entices you to play the ball forward and with what I would say kind of reckless abandon,” Jensen said. “The only thing that sucks is that I think the wind picked up in the second half. A little wind would be great, but a lot of wind in your face is still tough, but it's fine. All the balls are coming to our feet, so it was good.” 

Scout Stevenson got things going on offense for the Knights first at about the seven minute mark of the first half, executing a close-range goal to give them a 1-0 lead. From there, the Knights remained aggressive in their attack; rarely did Zillah push the ball across midfield.  

About 16 minutes in, Ernesto Deras scored the Knights second goal. About a minute later, he found another opening to score again, and suddenly Royal had a 3-0 lead over the Leopards.  

Over the next 12 minutes, the Knights took several shots on goal with a few close calls. About 32 minutes into the first half, Anderson Brown drilled a goal from about 15-yards out to give his team a 4-0 lead heading into halftime.  

Prior to the game, Jensen told a few of his players to be aggressive and go right at the Leopards defense when they had the ball.  

“I just was saying, ‘Look, I'm not interested in playing balls back that are doing nothing except slowing down play. We got to keep the pace of play up and the pressure up,” he said.  

In the second half, the Leopards defense was more aggressive in their efforts to prevent the Knights from scoring again. Their goalkeeper made several clutch saves throughout when Royal took shots on goal. At about 53 minutes, Cristian Nieto punched the ball into the net to increase their lead to 5-0. From there, Royal kept their foot on the gas to build their lead.  

By the 71-minute mark, goals by Adrian Padilla and Carlos Barajas stacked the lead to 7-0. Bade Jensen sealed the game early with the teams eighth goal at the 72-minute mark.  

As they look ahead, the Knights have three more games left in the regular season. Friday, they hit the road to play Wapato at 6 p.m. From Jensen’s perspective, it’s going to be good challenge for his players.  

“That's a big game, and it's tough because it's a tough place to play, and they're going to be good. I hear they're big, physical, so we got to get (ready for) that. It’s like a preview, potentially, of a district final or district semifinal. So that'll be good,” Jensen said.  

The Wolves are 10-3 on the season, but 9-0 in the South Central Athletic Conference, which puts them in first place, ahead of Royal who is in third currently. Playing to their favor is a seven-game win streak which was solidified with their win over the Leopards Tuesday.

“What's going to keep us going is Friday, because you go to Friday and it's like you got to be ready to play, and you got to feel the pressure of that coming, and then forbid you drop a result there, well (then) hopefully that's good motivation. Up a good result there, then that should be a big boost and a big push to get into districts,” Jensen said.  

BOX SCORE:  

ZLLH: 0-0: 0 

ROYL: 4-4: 8

    Dannis Ramos (9) eyes the ball as he goes to pass it down the field against Zillah Tuesday.
  

    The Knights’ Carlos Barajas (18) sprints down the field in pursuit of the ball against Zillah Tuesday.
  

    Shea Stevenson (23) looks for an open pass lane against Zillah Tuesday.