Regina Returns to State Tournament With Dominating 8-0 Win Over Dyersville Beckman
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
IOWA CITY – Regina was held scoreless in a substate final loss to Dyersville Beckman last season that snapped it’s string of 13 consecutive state tournament appearances.
In postseason rematch with the Blazers on Wednesday Regina no doubt while starting a new state tournament streak.
Class 1A second-ranked Regina (17-4) exploded for eight goals and returned to the state tournament for the 14th time in the past 15 seasons with an 8-0 win over Dyersville Beckman 11-7) in the Substate 4 title game at Regal Field in Iowa City.
“Before the game we said ‘boys we can’t have this happen again’,” Regina junior Petersen said. “We had to put them away and we did that from the very beginning of the game we just dominated.”
Petersen and Jack Hoover each had a pair of first half goals and senior Carson Irving had three goals in the opening seven minutes of the second half as Regina scored more than eight goals for the seventh time this season.
Regina will be making its 15th state tournament appearance in program history next Tuesday at 10 a,m. at Cownie Soccer Complex in Des Moines.
“We were pretty motivated after last year,” Hoover said. “I remember coming out after that game and it wasn’t a great feeling.”
Last season Dyersville Beckman didn’t allow a Regina goal while stopping Regina shy of the state tournament for the first time since 2007.
On Wednesday Regina scored in bunches.
The Regals scored all eight goals in a span of 34 minutes to end the first half and start the second half.
“When you put a few in the back of the net and then all of sudden you play with a little more confidence and have a little more fun,” Regina coach Rick Larew said. “Sometimes they are putting too much pressure on themselves and I’m part of that because I demand a lot of the kids but some point you have to understand it’s fun to play. You put the work in and now just go out and play the darn game.”
After a scoreless opening 20 minutes Hoover got Regina on the board.
Hoover slipped a shot into the lower right corner of the goal from just inside the box with 20:54 remaining in the opening half.
“The ball got to me at the 18-yard line and I kind of hesitated for a moment,” Hoover said. “I took one more touch and I just put it in the bottom corner.”
That goal by Hoover started an avalanche of Regina goals.
The Regals scored four goals in a little more than 12 minutes to take a 4-0 halftime lead.
Petersen made it 2-0 with his first goal and Hoover scored again 14 seconds later to give Regina a 3-0 cushion.
Petersen capped the first-half scoring with his second goal in the 31st minute.
“The first 20 minutes we just weren’t connecting all the passes,” Hoover said. “Once the passes started to connect things just unfolded the way we wanted.”
That was only the start for Regina.
Irving scored three goals in less than seven minutes to open the second half and Ty Joss tacked on a goal for Regina which completed a three-game sweep of Dyersville Beckman this season.
Regina won 2-1 and 1-0 matches over the Blazers in a five-day span in April before its emphatic win on Wednesday.
“It’s good to start a streak,” Petersen said. “We are starting it back up.”
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