Varsity: The Royals came out strong, dominating the first half with eight shots on goal alone. However, they were just not quite in the net. Armijo held Lincoln at 0-0 for the entire half but just couldn’t quite get that finish needed. The boys had some great movement with the centers working off the outside defense and wings. Then the Armijo strikers had some great footwork and movement to break straight through the defensive line. The Royals came back together at half to talk about a few key things where Lincoln was getting by on us and then to keep firing down on them.

Lincoln also came out strong and upped their game. At about seven minutes into the second half, Lincoln’s biggest threat was able to get through the Royals defense and, with an assist from his teammate, managed to catch Armijo’s keeper off guard and sink one in. Varsity rallied back up and played some of the best soccer Coach Flores has seen out of them yet, but the defense was on them and tripled up to collapse on the Royals’ forwards to force them to make a quicker pass or take a riskier shot. Armijo was unable to get that much needed goal, but they did not let the Trojans catch them off guard again, leaving us at 0-1 loss.

“Am I disappointed we didn’t get that win? Yes, but the play I saw from the boys today shows me that they are growing and learning from our past games and mistakes,” said Head Coach Megan Flores. “I see the drive and want to get that win and am proud of the plays and moments the boys created in game.”

The senior centers – Andy Rodríguez, Andy Diaz, Julian Jimenez and Alonso Martin – dominated their territory and repeatedly stripped the ball from the other team and set up plays to easily pass around them. Junior offensive players Diego Torres and Abraham Perez easily turned two to three players at a time and each had three or four solid shots on goal. Senior center defender Gio Zarate was a one man wall who stopped one play after another supporting his fellow defenders and letting Senior Keeper Johnny Harrington breathe easy in goal the majority of the time.

Junior Varsity (JV): Armijo started without two starters in the game. They started out the first half with intensity as it was a back and forth for 20 minutes. After a rebound, Lincoln was able to capitalize and score the first goal of the game. Ten minutes later Lincoln scored a second and went into the half up by second goal. At the half, three players were hurt and the Royals only had one sub. The players on the field knew they needed to try their hardest.

 Armijo picked it up in the second half and sophomore Angel Murillo scored a free kick from 40-yards out in the first five minutes. Mistakes from the defense and midfield caused two more goals from the Trojans, who were up 4-1. Armijo’s JV rallied and freshman Francisco Orozco and sophomore Benjamin Tooley scored two back-to-back goals to bring it 4-3. In the last two minutes of the game, Lincoln fouled Armijo’s goalie Abraham, but one of the refs let it play on , while the other disagreed, to make it 5-3.

On Friday, December 10, Armijo takes on the Lodi Flames at 4 pm (JV) and 6 pm (Varsity). Students are encouraged to join in cheering on the Royals at home and enjoy the Friday night under the lights!