ROYAL CITY — The Royal Knights (14-2-1) suffered a tough 2-0 loss to the Cashmere Bulldogs in the 1A Girls Soccer District Championship on Saturday. Though they're still state bound, it doesn't make the loss easier to digest.  

"Unfortunately, we didn't play tough enough, early enough," Head Coach Jens Jensen said. "There's a few things there where you can look at that game and say, okay, hey, congratulations to them. They played tough. They played very physical right from the beginning. The referee allowed it, now you need to figure out how to match that." 

From the opening whistle, the Bulldogs brought the physicality to the Knights. Goalkeeper Grace Soliz was challenged early and held up well as both teams went back and forth for possession of the ball. However, the Knights suffered a crucial loss of key player Lauren Wardenaar after a collision with another player knocked her out of the game in the first 10 minutes of the half.  

From there, Cashmere was able to find the back of the net after overwhelming Soliz to take a 1-0 lead at halftime.  

The Bulldogs continued with their aggressive approach as the Knights were slowly catching on and responding with physicality. Though their momentum was hampered after a second Cashmere goal gave them a 2-0 lead in the 58th minute, Royal continued to battle. The Knights had a couple of chances off corner kicks and effective passing to take a shot on goal, but unfortunately they did not amount to goals.  

Eventually time ran out on the Knights, and the Bulldogs officially laid claim to the District Championship.  

"I don't think (the physicality) necessarily surprised them. They weren't mentally ready to play that game, and so it wasn't like they were surprised," Jensen said. "We told them it was going to be a battle, but I think just as a unit, for whatever reason, they weren't mentally ready for that, and that caught them off guard. (When) they scored the (first) goal, we had chances to clear it, couple of saves, they get pushed back in traffic. We still have chances to clear it. I do look at those two goals and I think we played a big role in those, and so that's something that we can try to clean up and fix." 

Despite letting up two goals, Soliz held her own throughout most of the game, making several key saves. She was eventually pulled from the game in the final minutes as she has been navigating a lingering injury, Jensen said. 

"I thought she was doing everything she could and trying to play with heart," said the coach. 

The lack of Wardenaar's presence was noticed in the lineup Saturday, according to the coach.  

"She's absolutely 100% necessary for us to do what we need to do," Jensen said. "It was a really uphill battle. That's going to be a tough one, and so I tried a handful of different people and then changed the shape there at the end, and just trying to find some kind of answer. Real tough to lose her." 

Despite the tough loss, Jensen remained optimistic with his players after the game, encouraging them to not hang their heads because the season isn't over yet. The Knights enter the 1A Girls State Soccer tournament as the sixth seed and will host the King's Knights at home on Tuesday at 6 p.m. 

In between the closing moments of Saturdays game and their next, he feels it's important to keep up the positivity as they still have plenty to play for.  

"The season isn't over, that's the first thing," he said. "Now there's another set of trophies that are on the line that we're looking to chase. We've still got games to play... at this point, we've got to be positive. We've got to look to the next game." 

BOX SCORE: 

CSMR: 1-1: 2 

ROYL: 0-0: 0 

    The Knights' Lauren Wardenaar (24) eyes the ball as it soars through the air off a corner kick by teammate Maggie Frank (not pictured).
  

    Maggie Frank calls for the ball during the district championship game on Saturday.
  

    The Knights' Sophia Villafana (3) sprints after the ball during the district championship game against Cashmere on Saturday.