Hopeful Royal Settles for Tie With Thousand Oaks

Royal High midfielder Randy Wilson’s pep talk was to the point.

The senior told his teammates that when he awoke Thursday morning, he realized in his four years as a varsity soccer player he had never beaten Thousand Oaks.

Wilson’s goal midway through the second half had Royal on the verge of victory. But defending Marmonte League-champion Thousand Oaks wasn’t ready to make Wilson’s day.

The Lancers scored with less than three minutes remaining to force a 1-1 Marmonte League tie Thursday night at Royal.

“We played bad the whole game,” said Wilson, who scored on a header off a corner kick from Jario Quintero in the 67th minute.

“Every so [often] our team doesn’t have the intensity. We weren’t fired up. One of these days it’s going to kill us.”

Thousand Oaks (4-1-4, 0-0-1 in league play) tied the score in the 77th minute when Daniel Paz knocked in a cross from Nathan Chu.

The game featured contrasting styles, with Thousand Oaks trying to build attacks with short passes and Royal (9-1-1, 1-0-1) playing long ball.

“This proved there’s more than one way to skin a cat,” said Thousand Oaks Coach Mark Tietjen. “I think you saw two styles of soccer out there. All things considered, this is a good result for us. Royal is a hot team right now.”

Wilson and the Highlanders have their eyes on a Jan. 26 rematch with the Lancers that will most likely decide the Marmonte champion.

“I have to wait seven more games,” Wilson said. “If we play as good as we can, I have confidence we can win, but Thousand Oaks is a good team.”