With seven games left on the South Puget Sound League North schedule Kentwood’s boys soccer team was atop the division standings.

But the Conquerors likely have a target on their backs as they prepare for the rest of the regular season.

Standing at 6-0-4 with 22 points, Kentwood beat Thomas Jefferson 2-1 on April 9, then played to a scoreless tie on April 11 with rival Kentlake.

In the first match up between the Falcons and the Conks on March 16 the end result was also a tie, though the first go-round saw each team notch a goal, but this time around neither could find the net.

It was a different story for Kentwood against Jefferson. The first time the Conks took on the Raiders in the opening game of the season it ended knotted at 1-1.

This time around, Kentwood found a way to win, thanks to a little luck and timing, according to Conks head coach Aaron Radford.

“We were mentally prepared to face a tough opponent that liked to possess the ball and put extreme pressure on us,” Radford wrote in an email after the match against Jefferson. “And that is what we faced. They had a slightly different formation on the field than what I expected, but it didn’t change the way they played. They actually caused a bunch of trouble for us. We couldn’t link passes together and really get into a comfort zone with the ball.”

Kentwood scored its first goal off a corner kick when the ball went across the goal to the back post. One of the Conks was able to hit it back to the middle of the goal where Keaton Gray was seemingly waiting for just such a chance and punched it in at the 33 minute mark.

Nine minutes into the second half, the Raiders answered when Jacob Thoreson scored an unassisted goal to knot it up at 1-1.

“Unfortunately, when TJ scored, we were in some of a normal formation and approach and we let their best player carry the ball too long from the center circle right down the middle of the field and he roped a shot from 30 yards out that would have scored on any keeper in our league, if not the state,” Radford wrote.

Toward the end of the first half, Radford wrote, Kentwood made some adjustments then tweaked some things again midway through the second half to change the flow of the game and try to get Jefferson off balance.

Gray scored his second goal of the game with just two minutes left on the clock.

“To finish the game, we actually scored on a counter attack,” Radford wrote. “TJ was building up an attack and the ball came through to our keeper Chris (Kubeja), he came out to the top of 18 and kicked the ball long. It got over their defenders and Tyler Hutto chased it down to the top corner of their 18. A defender was tracking him down and the keeper was coming out to get him too, Tyler was able to hit the ball toward the goal as the defender dumped him. The keeper turned and was running back to get it, but Keaton was sprinting down the field — about 65 yards at that point— and was able to kick it in just before the keeper slid across the goal.”

Radford said this was just a typical nail-biter between Kentwood and Jefferson.

He added that the defensive line played well and made key stops.

“Getting four points in our two games with TJ is always huge,” Radford wrote. “It sets us up to be in a good spot for the playoffs. Obviously there are a lot of games left and some very tough match-ups, but it’s good to be in first. But I expect the playoff picture to not really shape up until the last week, and the last game against Tahoma will probably settle a lot of the spots.”

Meanwhile, Kentlake seemed to be playing much tougher defense since its 4-0 loss to Tahoma on March 30, as it won or tied three of its next four games.

On March 2 Kentlake beat Mount Rainier 3-2, struggled against Jefferson in a 2-0 loss, then dismantled Auburn Riverside in a 3-1 victory on April before holding off Kentwood’s aggressive offensive attack on April 11.

Through 11 league games the Falcons were in fifth place and in the hunt for a playoff spot at 4-4-2 with 14 points.

Tahoma is in third place and breathing down the necks of Jefferson and Kentwood.

The Bears and the Conks played to a 1-1 tie on April 5, and as Radford mentioned, don’t play again until the last contest of the season at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, May 4, at French Field.

Tahoma was in third place through April 11 with a 6-2-1 record thanks to a 3-0 defeat on April 9 of Kentridge.

Jordan Downing scored two goals in the win over the Chargers, both coming off passes from Mac Henderson, while Derek Ryan put the finishing touch on the victory with an unassisted goal with four minutes left on the clock.

The Bears were off on April 11.

In the meantime, Kentwood hosted Kentridge Tuesday while Kentlake played a scrappy Kent-Meridian team which beat Auburn Riverside 3-0 on April 11 for its first win of the season.

Tahoma hosted Mount Rainier Tuesday night after the Reporter went to press.

On Friday Kentridge plays Kentlake at 7:30 p.m. at French Field, K-M plays at Auburn, Riverside travels to Tahoma, Mount Rainier plays Jefferson and Kentwood has the night off.