ROYALS CAP OFF REGULAR SEASON UNBEATEN

By Nolan Miles

The Notre Dame Royals capped off an undefeated regular season on Monday afternoon against the second seeded JFK Islanders. The Royals were on top of their game on both defense and offense as they cruised to a 6-1 victory.

Shyann Roberto led the Royals with three goals, while teammate, Lauren Phillips, had two en route to the big victory. ND dominated from start to finish, scoring five goals in the first half to seal a victory and the top seed in the playoffs starting this week.

ND started off with their usual offensive pressure early, and it was Phillips who broke through first, in only the 9th minute of the game. Her goal put the Royals up 1-0.

JFK responded, challenging the Royal defense with offensive pressure of their own, but despite getting multiple shots off, they couldn’t seem to find the back of the net as the ND defense stepped up to lock them down.

Cold Stone Players of the Game: Lauren Phillips and Shyann Roberto

The Royals turned things up a notch in the 24th minute of the game with Roberto getting her first goal of the game off a free kick outside of the box. The lead was pushed to 2-0, but the Royals weren’t done yet.

Roberto’s free kick started a scoring frenzy with the Royals scoring four goals in the span of 10 minutes. Brianne Leon Guerrero added to the tally in the 25th minute, using a great run to get past the defense and slotting it past the keeper for the goal.

Phillips added another goal in only the 27th minute, getting past her defender and converting on a one-on-one opportunity with the JFK keeper. Roberto then scored her second goal of the day not long after. Her chip over the keeper in the 33rd minute put the score at 5-0 with ND firmly ahead going into halftime.

After halftime, the Royals picked right back up where they left off with Roberto sealing her hat trick in the 49th minute. She blasted home a perfectly set-up pass from Leon Guerrero to push the lead to 6-0.

The Islanders kept on working and eventually got on the board late in the game. Kiyoni Yamaguchi slammed a great shot past the keeper in the 61st minute to put the final score at 6-1.

When asked about how the team has grown over the season Phillips said: “ Throughout the season we’ve all really connected together, and no matter who’s on the field, we can adapt and play at a high level.” Roberto also added to that saying: “ I think we all work really well with each other and throughout the season, we really learned how to play with each other and get better every game. At the end of the day we all just have a lot of fun, and we try to get everyone involved.”

With the win the Royals, seal the top seed in the IIAAG Girls Soccer playoffs and also finish the season undefeated as they look to go for their third straight championship. “ The win gives us more confidence, heading into playoffs, but we know there are still areas to improve and practice on.” said Roberto.

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