Royal soccer team extends winning streak to six with win over Wahluke

ROYAL CITY — The ring of honor symbolized a true sign of sportsmanship when Wahluke and Royal players joined hands in a circle at midfield during a moment of silence prior to the SCAC East match Friday night at David Nielsen Stadium to honor Royal senior Silvestore Beltran, who passed away earlier in the week.

The American flag flew at half mast and the Knights players wore a red ribbons around the top of their socks as a symbol of respect for Beltran, who frequently competed with a red bandana above his right knee when he ran.

Royal won the critical SCAC East matchup 3-1. Pleasantries aside, there was a certain chippiness to a match where Royal (10-3, 6-1 SCAC East) was fighting to stay in the league title chase and Wahluke desperately needed a win to keep its playoff hopes alive.

Royal senior Miguel Torres scored in the second minute. University of Washington commit Michael Rojas did his part, converting on a penalty kick, then adding a highlight reel second-half goal to lead the Knights to their sixth consecutive victory and 10th in their last 11 matches. The only loss in that stretch was to Wahluke (8-4-1, 4-3 SCAC East) on March 27.

“We talked about (Silver) before the game tonight. The goal I scored on the PK, I dedicated to him,” Rojas said.

Royal got a big lift early when Torres picked up a slotted ball from Eliseo Romero and beat Warriors goalkeeper Melchor Celaya high to the near post two minutes into the match.

“We’ve been playing through some injuries and continuing to score goals,” Jens Jensen said. “When we play here on the home turf we want to play on the ground. We want to play at the feet and we want to run. When we play other places, the (grass) surface doesn’t allow us to do that.”

The speed and intensity was the most noticeable with both teams pressuring and pushing the ball upfield. One of sideline official Manny Martinez’s jobs is to run with the action to make sure players on the field remain onsides.

“I had to run the sidelines twice as much tonight as I have in another match this season,” said Martinez, who runs the Othello Adult Soccer League. “That’s how intense the clubs were pushing the ball tonight.”

The Knights beat Celaya two minutes into the match, but had the Wahluke keeper not been a Warrior in net, the score could have very been seven or eight goals higher. Royal was relentless, out-shooting Wahluke 15-3.

They sent corner kick after corner kick into the box. They pushed up the wings and centered. When that didn’t work, the Knights, who had 10 shots in the first half, backed it out, spread it around, then attacked straight up the middle.

Celaya held his own until the 70th minute when Rojas showcased exactly why he was recruited by Washing University. The Royal midfielder picked up a loose ball at the 30, turned and beat the defenders as they collapsed, turned back into the middle and bent a left-footer to the far post just under the crossbar to make it a three-goal difference.

“I always take on guys when I get the ball,” Rojas said. “Once I shot that (second goal), I felt that go all the way up my body, from my foot to my head. You could see the goalkeeper looking at the ball like it was going out, but I bent it in under the bar.”

Wahluke had just one shot on goal in the first 40 minutes and finished with just three. The Warriors took advantage of a Royal defensive mistake to avoid the shutout with a goal in the final two minutes.

Royal travels to College Place on Tuesday and Wahluke hosts Warden.