Rodriguez challenges Royals with mixed results

Varsity: Solid game play on Wednesday, January 5, for the Royals. The Rodriguez Mustangs came out ready but Armijo came out faster and ready to win. The Royals managed to get the first goal about 10 minutes into half by Junior Abraham Perez who weaved through several defenders to find the net.

Rodriguez was able to take advantage of some poor decisions on the Royals’ side that led them to their goal about five minutes later. Armijo picked it back up and saw some near misses that were nail biters. This ended us with a score of 1-1 at half and only a few things to discuss and clean up for the second half.

The Royals came out ready and with a clear plan on what needed to be done to play strong and keep going. Both teams came out ready in the second half, wanting that next goal but with a foul in Rodriguez’s 18 box, Armijo was able to get a PK. Senior Captain Andy Rodríguez did his signature approach and sunk a beautiful goal to get the Royals their second goal.

Rod wasnt giving up and were very close to getting a couple more goals but Armijo’s Senior Keeper Jonathan Harrington was able to hold down the goal. “I  am so proud of the play they brought to the field tonight and look forward to seeing what else the boys bring to  the rest of league,” said Coach Megan Flores. “They boys worked their butts off during preseason with playing such high competition and the benefits of that showed tonight.”

Junior Varisty (JV): The Royals had a lot going against them, with being down so many players Wednesday night, January 5, but they gave it their all and had many moments that were well played. Armijo struggled to press the ball and find the drive to make plays happen, which caused the first goal in the first half by the Rodriguez Mustangs at about 20 minutes in with a simple mistake off a rebound.

The Royals stepped up and had several close calls for their own goals but were just off by a step or just off frame. Armijo ended the half at 1-0, but they took what Coach Flores said to work on and came out strong and again had several close calls, but just couldn’t sink in a goal.

Rodriguez was able to get two more goals in during the second half when Armijo had the few players go out and were down to playing players who were not at 100%. It was a tough loss but the boys played a good game and just need to find that drive for the ball and a few extra healthy subs and they will be a whole different team out there.