SUMNER — Royal’s return to the Sweet 16 was bitter-sweet as the team suffered a 1-0 opening round state loss to Cascade High School on the turf at Sunset Chev Stadium Tuesday, May 16.

The Knights, who had been absent from the big stage the past two years, nonetheless turned in a fine season, accomplishing something that had never been done before; claiming their first ever SCAC East Conference Title.

“It was a great match, but unfortunately we fell to Cascade,” coach Jens Jensen said. “It was obvious from the beginning that one mistake or a lost chance would decide the match. The boys battled and created chances, but we had one mistake defensively and also saw four great chances to score either miss the mark or come off the woodwork. We were happy to get back to the state tournament, but bummed that our return ended early.”

Royal closed out the regular season on a seven-game win steak to finish 13-3 in the standings, and was crowned conference champion. The team beat league powerhouse Connell twice and split games with archrival Wahluke.

The Knights turned back Naches Valley 4-0 at home in the opening round of the district playoff’s, but fell to the Warriors 2-1 in a shootout that went to the 11th kicker in the semifinal round. That set up a showdown with Highland in the final round for the No. 3 seed to State. Royal pulled out a 1-0 shootout win over the Scots, which put the team in the big dance and a first round matchup with Cascade.

It was the final match for a handful of Knights who played their last game in a Royal uniform.

“Our five seniors; Abel Dominguez, Abraham Medina, Sergio Mendoza, Alex Contreras, and Fernando Ortiz will be missed — they played great for us this year,” Jensen said, “Abel Dominguez and Sergio Mendoza anchored the defense. Abraham Medina was a workhorse for us all over the field – his fighting spirit created space for others. Alex Contreras scored some big goals when we needed them, and Fernando Ortiz contributed with assists and made the most of the minutes we asked of him. It has been a special group — they have been willing to suffer and play their role without ego or drama.”

Jensen said some of the seniors are exploring college playing options, but at the moment, final decisions have not been made by any of them.

Despite an early exit from the state tournament, Jensen said the season was quite successful.

“We changed a few things this year and these boys came along for the ride and were willing to expose themselves emotionally to the cause. It was a wonderful season with great young men. We all struggled, had success, failure, and fought to improve. We won a trophy that we have not won before, and for me personally — being a hard core soccer guy — winning the league was extremely rewarding.”

As for next season, the majority of the squad will be underclassmen, but that seems to be the norm for coach Jensen.

“We’ll be a younger team — has almost always been that way,” Jensen said. “Connell, Highland and Wahluke tend to be much more senior heavy than us, but we remain competitive — and young guys always seem to step up.”