Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Exactly two weeks ago Regina saw a 1-0 halftime lead evaporate in a 2-1 loss to top-ranked West Branch.

When Pella Christian scored just six seconds into the second half of Monday’s Class 1A, Substate 7 to even the score at 1-1 the question was if Regina was going to see a repeat of its previous loss.

The answer was a resounding no.

Second-ranked Regina (14-3) closed the match with three unanswered goals over the final 33 minutes on its way to an impressive 4-1 win over Pella Christian (8-8) in its playoff opener at Regals Field in Iowa City.

“Going into the second half we’ve had games where teams have made comebacks and we’ve dropped our heads and we said that wouldn’t happen again,” Warren said. “We came back strong, we learned from those games and we did better.”

Regina saw leads slip away in regular season losses to Dyersville Beckman and top-ranked West Branch.

The Regals showed just how far they’ve come from those setbacks on Monday.

Quinn Warren, Evan White and Thor Olson all scored goals in the final 33 minutes as Regina advance to the Substate 7 title game.

The Regals will host the winner of the semifinal between Mid-Prairie and Hillcrest Academy in the Substate 7 final on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

“Do I think that those losses help? Absolutely,” Regina coach Rick Larew said. “I hate losing, I hate losing but I think those are losses where the boys listened a lot more so I was very pleased.”

Warren gave Regina an early 1-0 lead when he scored on a straight away shot with 8:53 remaining in the first half.

Regina led 1-0 at the half and appeared to be in total control of the match.

That changed just six seconds into the half when Pella Christian junior Nathan Brouwer chipped a shot over the head of Regina keeper Will Farnsworth from just beyond midfield.

“I thought we played pretty well start to finish,” Larew said. “That goal surprised me, I haven’t seen that outside of a Sportscenter type show but to their credit they saw it and I’m glad to have it happen. Things like that I’m glad to have happen because it won’t happen again.”

With the match even at 1-1 Regina went on the offensive.

Warren gave the Regals the lead back less than eight minutes later when he converted a penalty kick following a Pella Christian foul in the box.

The second goal of the match for Warren, and his 16^th of the season gave the Regals a lead they would never give up.

“It shows how far we’ve come this season,” Warren said. “We had some games early we thought we should have won but we are a talented team and we want to play our game every time and focus on what we can do.”

White made it 3-1 Regina when he scored off a feed from Jack Hoover less than four minutes later.

Thor Olso put the finishing touches on the win with a goal with 3:40 remaining.

“Obviously it caught us off guard when they hit a chip from midfield to start the second half but I think we just stuck to our game plan,” Hoover said. “I think it was just good execution that led to good shots that went in.”

Regina will be seeking a second consecutive state tournament appearance on Wednesday.

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