Regina keeps 4-peat hopes alive (photo gallery)

DES MOINES - It doesn't matter which of the four fields they play on, Iowa City Regina owns Cownie Park. At least it seems that way.

A 1-0 win over Council Bluffs St. Albert in a Class 1A state soccer tournament quarterfinal Thursday afternoon wasn't really as close as the score indicated. The Regals dominated possession time and the quality chance battle.

The drive for five (minus one) is very much alive.

"Coach, he just wants us to win this one, then we'll talk about four in a row after that," said freshman forward Michael Adam. "He told us that this is an entirely different team than last year. We've just got to go with what we have."

What Regina has is, as always, pretty good. It takes a 16-5-1 record into Friday afternoon's semifinals against top-seeded Waterloo Columbus (17-3-2).

Four of the five losses were to teams in Class 2A or 3A. The only in-class loss was 1-0 to top-ranked Dyersville Beckman, which was upset in its state quarterfinal Thursday.

Depth and talent are staples for this program.

"We usually play 15 to 18 guys, and I think we played 16 today," said Coach Rick Larew. "We just kept trying to run them out. We have sort of a joined or shared purpose with what we wanted to do. Each of the kids stepped in and did their jobs very well."

Adam got the goal early in the second half, heading in a perfect cross from the left corner by Ben Spanick.

"I was at the far post and saw Ben in the corner," Adam said. "I thought I might as well just scream my heart out and call for it. Ben is normally a right-footed player, but he had just a fantastic cross with his left foot. It was perfect. Couldn't have asked for better."

"If the ball is at your feet, they can't score," Larew said of his team's almsot constant ball possession. "Bring the ball down the field, take it wide, cross back in. Try to get them a little bit confused. That's what happened on the goal. They lost Michael Adam, who is a very dangerous player."