Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

DES MOINES – The Regina attack did its usual damage in Wednesday’s Class 1A state quarterfinal.

Give the Regal defense an assist in helping second-ranked Regina return to the state semifinals for the second straight season.

Three different players scored goals and Regina posted its second consecutive postseason shutout with a 3-0 blanking of No. 8 Hudson (14-6) in a 1A quarterfinal at Cownie Soccer Complex in Des Moines.

“It feels great, it’s great to be back here but we have two more games,” Regina senior goalkeeper Will Farnsworth said. “It’s not over yet.”
Quinn Warren, Ethan Beard and Eddie Petersen all scored goals and Farnsworth kept a clean sheet for the 12^th time this season as Regina (16-3) advanced to the 1A semifinals for the 14^th time in the past 16 seasons.

Regina will face third-ranked North Fayette Valley (16-3) in a 1A semifinal on Friday at Drake Stadium at 7 p.m. where it will be seeking its first title game appearance since 2019.

“My sophomore year (2022) was a rough year for us, we had a lot of young guys so it’s really important spot for us (Friday),” Warren said. “It’s big for us going back to the semifinals.”

Warren gave Regina an early lead it would never give up on Wednesday.

The senior scored his team-leading 17 goal of the season with 24:24 remaining in the opening half on a nifty shot from the left side of the box off a Jack Hoover set up.

“We noticed their center back, when our striker received it they would step to him,” Warren said. “Once I saw Jack (Hoover) get the ball I made the run and had to finish up close.”
Sophomore Ethan Beard gave Regina a 2-0 halftime cushion when he scored on a breakaway with 10:26 remaining in the first half.

The Regal defense took care of the rest as the Regina back line and Farnsworth posted the fourth shutout in the last five matches for the Regals.

“It took us a while to settle in to the new formation but after we found our place our defense has been really good,” Farnsworth said. “Our chemistry between our defense and our midfield and up to the top is so good and that’s what makes our team great.”

Eddie Petersen capped the scoring with a penalty kick goal in the second half to cement the 15^th win in 16 state quarterfinal matches for Regina, all since 2005.

“The kids really worked hard,” long-time Regina coach Rick Larew said. “They’ve continued to get better and they’ve worked extremely hard. I think that will pay off over the next couple of days.”

Regina brings a five-match winning streak into Friday’s semifinal and has outscored 21-1 during that stretch.

The Regals have won 11 of their last 12 matches, a stretch that includes three matches over state tournament qualifiers and shutout wins over semifinalists West Liberty and Davenport Assumption.

“I think the tougher schedule we played coming in, you don’t want to be surprised in terms of what people can do with the ball when you get here,” Larew said. “You don’t want to be surprised here so I think our schedule helped us a lot.”

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