After snapping a 43-year state tournament drought, the Kent-Meridian boys soccer team isn’t off on the wrong foot to start the year — but they haven’t quite hit their stride so far in this 2024 campaign.<\/p>\n
The Royals danced with another state qualifying team in the Federal Way Eagles for a competitive non-league matchup early in the season. The two sides walked away with a 1-1 draw on March 19, but the Royals felt like they let the game slip away.<\/p>\n
“I thought we had tons of opportunities to score, but we just got too disconnected from our defense. My offense could taste it,” said Head Coach Brian Gabert.<\/p>\n
Inside the first 10 minutes, the two sides were struggling for real control of the pace and the game. Neither side created a positive chance at a goal until Johnny Chino-Lopez got involved.<\/p>\n
The Royals’ front three deployed a bit of a trip outside the 18-yard box where Chino-Lopez took it on his right foot and fired a shot that beat the Federal Way keeper to his left — and gave Kent-Meridian a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute.<\/p>\n
“He’s just a creative kid … He’s so good,” Gabert said.<\/p>\n
That little space that Chino-Lopez was able to create was just enough to get a quality shot off and really stunned the Eagles from the first whistle.<\/p>\n
Throughout the rest of the first half, Kent-Meridian continued to apply pressure. Delano Valerio was causing a lot of problems for Federal Way’s right wingbacks. Valerio found lots of space and even bounced a shot off the left post, which could have really dampened the sails for Federal Way.<\/p>\n
But heading into halftime, Kent-Meridian led 1-0.<\/p>\n
The second half was a different story. Federal Way came out with energy and a want to get level in the game. The Eagles were the side with more quality in the second half and were rewarded for being so.<\/p>\n
In the 52nd minute, on a free kick, the Eagles drew level, 1-1. Kent-Meridian kept fighting to try and get an advantage, including a peach of an opportunity from Keilor Cacho-Garcia. He was given a ball over the top, and Cacho-Garcia looked to lob the ball over the keeper, but it traveled just outside the post.<\/p>\n
Senior “Swiss army knife” Andres Zuluaga was all over the field in the draw. His heat map would be very impressive to look at: “He can do so much,” Gabert said.<\/p>\n
At times it felt like the Royals were playing two different opponents — the Eagles and the officials. Midway through the second half, Kent-Meridian had four yellow cards, including Coach Gabert.<\/p>\n
“I just didn’t like the pace of the game. It was inconsistent with the ref. I got a yellow card for the first time in forever because my guy got an instant yellow and their guy got a three count. I didn’t understand the three count,” Gabert said.<\/p>\n
Testy environments and competition that pushes your buttons creates a different type of atmosphere. But it’s one that can benefit a team if it is used the right way.<\/p>\n
“We’re trying to build chemistry, so it doesn’t matter who we play… I like to remind the kids we are building for a long season,” said Gabert.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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