DES MOINES − Once again, Iowa City Regina is headed to the Iowa high school boys state soccer championship game.
The Regals advanced thanks to a 1-0 victory decided by penalty kicks (5-4) over West Central Valley on June 4 at Mediacom Stadium. Midfielder-turned-goalie Evan Greve vaulted into hero status, switching from the field to between the pipes for the penalty shootout and making the game-winning save to advance. This marks the ninth time Regina has reached the state finals.
The Regals’ high-powered offense was creating ample opportunities in the first half, but was unable to find the back of the net. A large reason why was West Central Valley goalkeeper Mason Fortney, who made eight saves in the first half alone to keep the score at 0-0.
Regina continued to sustain pressure deep into West Central Valley’s side of the field in the second half, as the Wildcats stacked the box to disrupt the Regals’ offense. By the time 80 minutes had passed, neither team could find the back of the net, sending it to overtime. In the second overtime period, Regina star senior Laird Holden had a pair of grade-A chances to score, but Fortney continued to play strong to send the match to penalty kicks.
“I thought they (West Central Valley) were a good team,” said Regina head coach Rick Larew. “They understood how to shut us down and that was just pack things in the back. We kept coming at them, they shut down Laird from scoring. We executed our game plan as best we could, they’re just a very good team that held us in check.”
In the first set of five penalty kicks, Regina buried three of their five shots. West Central Valley had an opportunity to clinch the game on their fifth attempt with three makes already, but Aiden Clauson’s shot rang off the crossbar to keep it at 3-3 after five attempts. Then, Regina’s Kevyn Dominguez and Jackson Kopecky each made their penalty kicks to get up to five for Iowa City Regina. West Central Valley’s Garret Wolfe stepped up to match it, but an outstanding save from Greve sealed the deal to send Iowa City Regina to Friday’s state championship game.
While Greve is an integral part on the field for Regina, the team had all the confidence in the world for him to step up in goal, considering what they saw out of him in practice.
“He’s a sensational goalie, he may be one of the best goalies in the state,” Larew said. “For us, he plays down the field, but he’s one of the best goalies in the state. It didn’t surprise me he did that well, because in practice, he does that.”
The Wildcats end the season with a 15-2-1 record and made the program’s sixth-ever state tournament appearance. Fortney was stellar in the effort with 12 total saves, but the match was left up to the always unpredictable penalty kicks.
The Regals will await the winner of West Sioux and St. Albert to see who they will battle for a state title. Regina has had some good luck in the state finals in the past, winning all eight of their previous appearances. The Regals are seeking their first state title since 2019.
While a victory on Friday would match Iowa City West for the most boys soccer state titles ever in Iowa, they’ll take the next match five minutes at a time.
“Most goals are scored the first five minutes, the last five minutes of a half and the five minutes after a goal,” Larew said. “This tournament showed it, so we want to play a great first five minutes.”
Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Regina defeats West Central Valley to make Iowa state soccer finals
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