Douglas Miles

Your Prep Sports

DES MOINES – There will be no ‘four-peat’ for Iowa City Regina.

The three-time defending state champions in Class 1A were denied that opportunity on Thursday, and it took perhaps the most prolific scoring offense in recent memory to vanquish them.

“This is arguably the best 1A team that I have seen in a long, long time,” Regina Coach Rick Larew said after the fourth-seeded Regals lost to No. 1 Burlington Notre Dame, 4-2, in a state semifinal match at Cownie Soccer Park. “They just do a lot of things well. They are physical in a good way. They are not dirty players. It is great players. They tough play, they are mentally tough and then they move without the ball.”

Burlington Notre Dame (22-1) has scored a whopping 142 goals this season and has four players on its roster – senior Sam Brueck and juniors Parker Davis, Cole Ward and Gabe Zurita – that entered the state tournament with more than 20 goals scored apiece.

“It is what they do without the ball,” Larew said. “That is the thing most people don’t understand. In soccer, it is what you do without the ball more than what you do with the ball. And they are really a dynamic team.”

Ward got the scoring started for the Nikes in the 30th minute with an assist from Zurita.

His 27th goal this season sent Burlington Notre Dame to the halftime huddle with a 1-0 advantage.

“It took a lot pressure off, but not enough,” Brueck said. “We just want to keep scoring. We want to get insurance on our lead and keep moving forward with our game.”

Brueck made sure the Nikes got that insurance.

After his header in the 45th minute sailed over the crossbar, Brueck capitalized on his next two chances with a pair of goals eight minutes apart.

Suddenly, Burlington Notre Dame was up, 3-0, midway through the second half.

Davis – who leads all of 1A with 32 assists this season – and Ward recorded assists on the Brueck goals.

“Great passing from my teammates,” said Brueck, who ranks fifth in all of 1A with 35 goals this year. “They distributed me perfectly. Then you make one move and you see an open net and you put it in the corner and you score.”

After three of his shots were stopped by Nikes’ goalkeeper Caden Murphy, Regina standout Alec Wick broke through for the Regals with a header off a free kick from freshman Kaleab Wendy in the 63rd minute.

It was the 30th goal this season for Wick, who graduates Regina with two state championships in soccer and one in football.

“It could have been better,” said Wick, who reports to the University of Iowa football team June 13. “Playing on Saturday would have been a lot nicer. It has been a great four years here. I have loved every second of it.”

If there were any thoughts of a frantic Regina comeback, Zurita snuffed them out just two minutes later with his 25th goal of the season and fourth in two tournament games.

Wendy cut the final margin in half with a goal in the closing seconds for Regina (12-8), which loses just three seniors to graduation in Levi Quinlan, Danny Nicpon and Wick.

“It is the nicest group of kids I have ever had,” Larew said of the entire team. “They’re terrific. Three weeks ago, we were a different team. I didn’t think we would get to the state tournament. And then to get here and win a game … I am so proud of these kids.”

In its first state tournament appearance in school history, Burlington Notre Dame will play No. two seed Western Christian (16-1) on Saturday for the state championship. The winner will collect its first boys’ soccer state title.

“It took a lot of confidence,” Brueck said. “I believe coming into this tournament Regina was the favorite. We knew all along that we were the real favorite here. We have a lot of confidence in this team. We just need to take care of business Saturday.”

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