Kent-Meridian soccer falls to Auburn Mountainview despite second-half surge
Published 9:24 am Wednesday, March 18, 2026
Whenever Kent-Meridian and Auburn Mountainview take to the soccer field, it’s clear the level of play and physicality goes up a notch.
Kent-Meridian looked to make a second-half comeback, but couldn’t climb the mountain and fell to the Lions, 3-1, on March 17 for their first loss this season on the road.
“I’m looking for who is going to step up and be that magical player this year. Some of the kids are a little disappointed that we didn’t score and thought it was going to be all sunshine and butterflies and an easy road,” head coach Brain Gabert said.
The Royals defeated Auburn Mountainview in the district tournament last season before the Lions went on to make the state final four. But in the regular season last year, Auburn Mountainview won the first leg and the two teams drew 3-3 in the second leg.
When these teams collide, there seems to be an added element of passion. With each tackle, corner kick and scoring chance, the game sits on a knife’s edge with both sides trying to swing momentum in their favor.
“I felt pretty good. I thought we were creating opportunities,” Gabert said.
On Tuesday night, Auburn Mountainview connected on the first proverbial punch. The man who has haunted Kent-Meridian for going on four years did his damage once again. Benji Toscano was the beneficiary of some luck on his first goal after his initial shot was saved by Joey Villanueva, but ricocheted off Jeremiah Castro and rolled across the goal line.
No more than five minutes later in the 33rd minute, Villanueva miss-hit a clearance ball that went right to the feet of Toscano. The Auburn Mountainview senior shot it past the off guard and out of position Royal defenders to give the Lions a 2-0 lead.
The two sides went to the locker rooms with Auburn Mountainview leading 2-0 over Kent-Meridian.
But in the second half, momentum swung back the way of Kent-Meridian. Senior Davyan Martinez showed his class and single-handedly got the Royals on the board.
In the 50th minute, Martinez sent a perfect corner kick into the box that found its way back to him in the corner. He weaved his way past defenders, drew a penalty kick and converted that attempt.
KM pulls one back here in the 50th minute.
Davyan Martinez sends a great corner in, draws the penalty and cashes it in.
2-1 but KM is surging pic.twitter.com/DiPdiUtmIQ
— Ben Ray (@bigplaybenray) March 18, 2026
His left foot is golden and was constantly being called out by the Lion defenders all game long. His next step is to learn how to combine with his teammates and work with them to create scoring chances.
“You can’t just take on the whole team. He’s a very high level player and plays on these club teams that are really good. So now it’s a matter of being patient with his teammates and understanding what everyone is trying to do,” Gabert said. “It’s hard to predict what he is trying to do.”
With the game 2-1, Kent-Meridian was feeling the momentum and sending crosses and shots on goal to try and break through to tie the game. But on a counter attack, captain Gael Aguayo San Juan left the game with an injury and immediately after, the Lions scored their third goal of the night.
It was another deflected ball that the Royal defense couldn’t handle, and Auburn Mountainview punished them for it and sealed the win in the 66th minute.
“Soccer wise, I thought we did well. A lot of good things I thought we did well. We are missing Johnny (Chino Lopez), he’s going to come back out. That kind of hurts us a little bit,” Gabert said.
Kent-Meridian now prepares for Todd Beamer on March 20 as the Royals return home to take on the Titans.
