Girls 09/10 Schedule and Match Reports

[Jensers]

Royal 0 vs. Highland 7
League Match

Stats:
http://www.rhs.royal.wednet.edu/spor...vshighland.htm

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Not much to report here, we played them tough in the first half, but gave up some quick goals in the second so we changed things up and made the change to a more attacking system in an effort to pick up a goal. We had a handful of 1v1 opportunities with the Highland goalkeeper, but lacked the finishing touch.

At Cle Elum Monday followed by another away match with Connell on Tuesday.

[Jensers]

Royal 3 @ Cle Elum 2
League Match

Stats:
http://www.rhs.royal.wednet.edu/spor.../atcleelum.htm
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This match turned out to be closer than it should have been, but a strong performance from Katrina picking up a deserved Hat Trick secured the win. Cle Elum was desperate for the win as it was their final home match and they had not seen a victory at home all season. They have good overall speed and pushed 8 and 9 players forward in a frantic attempt to score.

We scored twice to get the math started. The first from a corner that Trina headed home, and the second on a good through ball that Trina hammered over the head of the Cle Elum Goalkeeper.

Cle Elum then answered back from an attempted cross that caught Steph out. She made a recovery to save it, but it deflected off of her hands and bounced into the net.

Cle Elum tied it up a few minutes later when a missed clearance and a deflection dropped the ball in front of a Cle Elum player who placed a good low shot to the corner.

Late in the second half, Trina came to the rescue with a moment of individual brilliance - Picked up a ball on the left side of the penalty area, faked to cut to her right, played left, cut back inside, and beat the keeper far post from a tight angle. It was a goal I would be proud to score!



Royal 0 @ Connell 6
League Match

Stats:
http://www.rhs.royal.wednet.edu/spor.../atconnell.htm
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We played Cle Elum Monday night, and Connell Tuesday. It was obvious that we were suffering from the short turnaround and Connell proved to be more than we could handle.
This was our final league match with us finishing 6th and Connell grabbing the top spot going into districts.




End of Regular Season - On to Districts!

From the beginning of the year it was our goal to beat the teams that were like us and to finish 6th or better. We were able to beat all of the teams besides Wahluke, and it took a late winner from their key player to beat us.
For the first time in 4 years the girls have made their way into the district tournament!

We are happy with how the season has progressed and look forward to now getting as far as we can in the district tournament. The first round of districts will be Saturday, and as of now it looks like we will have a tough match @ Naches followed by a home loser out match with Mabton Tuesday night.

[Jensers]

Royal 1 @ Naches 4
Districts - Round 1

Stats:
http://www.rhs.royal.wednet.edu/spor...sdistricts.htm
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We knew that this was going to be a tough match, but the girls did well to make it difficult for the Lady Rangers. Their hard work and organization required that Naches come up with some special efforts on goal to beat Stephanie.

The match was held up for about 20 minutes in the first half after one of our players and a Naches player suffered a forehead to forehead collision resulting in 6 stitches for the Naches player and 19 for ours. It was a scary moment, but both girls were brave to go into the challenge, and both continued to be brave during their trip to the hospital to get patched up.

The loss against Naches sets up a loser out match at home against Mabton Tuesday night at 6 PM. This is a huge match because the winner gets a chance to play Saturday in Royal for the final spot into the state tournament.

[Jensers]

Royal 1 vs. Mabton 0 (Shoot Out)
Districts Round 2

Stats:

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A Classic!
Two tough and industrious teams with athletic goal keepers make for a low scoring match, but a battle! Both teams had chances - Royal had the bulk of the play in the second half, but the Mabton keeper was very brave and aggressive off her line.

The OT periods had a few dangerous moments for both sides, but the deadlock remained and required Penalty Kicks to decide the winner.

The first 5 pairs of kickers finished deadlocked and required a 6th player to decide the match. Stephanie Guadarrama shed her gloves and hammered home the winner off the outstretched hands of the Mabton keeper for the victory!

Many of those in attendance joined in the celebration on the field, and for the first time since 2003 the girls made it into a district final and an opportunity to play for a spot in the state tournament.

We will play this Saturday at 1 PM against Kiona-Benton as part of the 3 game district finals in Royal.

Wahluke and Naches will play at 11 AM, followed by our match with Kiona-Benton at 1 PM, and finally Connell vs. Highland at 3 PM.

Should be a great day of soccer!

[Jensers]

Royal 0 - Ki-Be 1
District Tournament - Final Round

Stats:

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The season comes to a close.

It was a great day in Royal to have the district finals because we got a chance to watch all 3 games in one venue. The weather didnt exactly cooperate as it was blowing a stiff 25-30 MPH, but it made for an interesting display of tactics and defense as you got a half both with the wind in your favor, and it working against you.

For our match, we elected to take the wind in the second half so the first half was required some organized defending along with clock management to provide the fewest opportunities possible for the visiting Bears. We were able to hold on and keep the score 0-0 at half time, and following a change in tactics at the break, we were ready for the momentum to swing in our favor.

It took a while to get used to the wind at our backs, but we were creating chances and causing problems. Everything was going well and it felt like it was our match to win, but a missed clear and slow reaction to the mistake sprung Ki-Be's key player with only Stephanie to beat, and she slammed it into the back of the net to take the lead.

We pushed forward in an desperate attempt to get an equalizer and had a handful of great chances including a shot that skimmed off the crossbar, but the goal never came and Ki-Be claimed the #4 spot into the State Tournament.

With the mix of players we had this year that was an amazing season and they did well to meet all of the goals put in front of them. Just getting to the game with Ki-Be was an accomplishment, but putting in a performance like this - where the result could have gone either way is astonishing.

Great Job Girls! We are all Proud of you!