Royal Posts 1-0 Shutout to Win Title

The Royal High soccer team offered an early challenge to Marmonte League rival Newbury Park in the Southern Section 4-A Division championship match Friday night at Gahr High in Cerritos.

The challenge came with 14:37 remaining in the first half when Royal striker Luis Gutierrez fielded a pass from Thomas Cavner in front of the Panthers’ net and rifled the ball past goalkeeper Richard Bengston for what was to be the only goal of the game. In 22 previous matches this season--13 of them in a row--one goal had been enough to win for the Highlanders.

And it was again in this match. Maneuvering the ball with precision throughout the remainder of the match, Royal pressured the Panthers with a barrage of shots on goal (33 to Newbury Park’s 13) and captured its first soccer title in the school’s history. The 1-0 victory was the 23rd shutout of the season for Karl Holt, who had posted a Southern Section record three shutouts earlier.

“I knew it would be close,” Royal Coach Peter Schraml said. “But I thought it would be about 2-0. I thought we played a great first half and a lousy second half.”

Actually, Royal (26-1-2), the Marmonte League champion, was not that bad in the second half. Newbury Park (19-6-1), which finished third and handed the Highlanders their only defeat of the season, rarely threatened after halftime.

Newbury Park midfielder Bill Kranz, the Marmonte’s player of the year, lofted a kick from 15 yards in front of Holt that skipped off the crossbar. Other than that solitary threat, Royal controlled the ball with the same skill that resulted in its championship goal.

The play began on a throw-in from Matt Rast to Cavner. Cavner redirected the ball with his scalp and Gutierrez left-footed it past a diving Bengston into the corner of the net.

“It’s a set play,” Schraml said. “It’s a flick-in and a guy comes up from the back and scores.”

Said Gutierrez: “Tom made a great pass. I knew he was going to put it right there and I just controlled it and kicked it in.”

Royal threatened several times in the first half, as Bengston made several key saves. One was a point-blank bullet by Cam Rast. Bengston stopped another Cam Rast shot when he came far out of the net to collide with Rast, who had dribbled nicely between two defenders.

The Panther defense thwarted another Royal threat in the first half when Bret Bechthold blocked a shot by Edwin Vela with the side of his head.

But too much pressure from Royal kept the Panthers’ offense from getting on track.

“We tried to play off of Royal,” Newbury Park Coach Ted Isenberg said. “You can’t do that. They play right there with you.”