Nevada’s speed burns Regina in girls’ soccer semifinal

DES MOINES - Regina began its girls' state soccer semifinal with one thing in mind: possession. For 10 minutes the Regals were so good that Nevada probably thought the existence of the ball was a rumor.

The Regals did that for a couple reasons. That's the way their coaches prefer they play and that's what they've done all year. But the other reason is that when given the ball, the Cubs are extremely dangerous.

Nevada proved that point by scoring three goals within 20 minutes in the first half en route to a 3-1 victory Friday at Cownie soccer park.

'That 15, 20 minutes kind of caught us off guard,” Regina's Jenny Wick said. 'But we never gave up.”

Top-ranked Nevada (19-1) plays No. 2 Sioux City Heelan (19-2) Saturday for the Class 1A title. Regina ended its season 16-4 and speed was a major factor.

'No, not this season,” Regina senior defender Angela Klein said when asked if she had seen a team as fast as the Cubs. 'When we switched to three defenders it was really hard, especially No. 3 (Abby Stephenson), she was really good and really fast.”

'We struggled with their speed, and we didn't finish our shots like we should have,” Lauren Gaarde said. 'They had really good players coming forward, and their defensive line was really far back and we struggled with that too.”

Nevada broke through for the first goal in the 17th minute when Stephenson passed ahead to Elli Cassabaum who outraced her defenders and kicked it home. Stephenson scored on a sprint through the defense three minutes later.

'We were kind of getting into the groove of things the first 10 minutes, and I think we all noticed that we were a little slow,” Stephenson said. 'Then we got into a groove and stuck three into the net.”

The final goal was also Stephenson's on a 25-yard shot that settled in over the keeper's head.

The second half Regina pushed up and tried everything to score, leaving the defense vulnerable. The defense did its job, with goalie Hannah Stein making several fine saves, but the Regals mustered only one goal from Gaarde.

'Kennedy (Brown) played a perfect ball and I just ran through, and she was a really good goalie but I just had to find a corner and put it in there,” Gaarde said.

Regina loses three senior starters.

'It's really hard. I was hoping to go out with a bang senior year with a state championship,” Klein said. 'But I'm fine with (the semifinals). I think they'll be really good next year. I'm excited to watch them.”

'It's great to make it this far and next year we're going to be hungry for more,” Gaarde said.