Regina holds off Union in rainy girls’ state soccer quarterfinal

DES MOINES - No. 4 Regina weathered the weather and an opponent who was madder than a wet hen to advance to the state girls' soccer semifinals. The Regals outlasted Union, 3-2, in a game played in constant rain at the Cownie Soccer Complex.

No. 6 Union (15-6) came into the match without its leading scorer Courtney Powell, who was assessed a red card for her actions in a regional final win over Center Point-Urbana. Union parents and administrators tried to get the decision overturned, to no avail.

Jenny Wick opened the scoring with a terrific sidestep move from the top of the box. After she lost her defender she smashed a shot into the net to give the Regals the lead in the 19th minute.

'It's all about setting the tone,” Wick said. 'Our team is going to work for every game, and I just wanted to give them confidence at the beginning of the game.”

Wick set the tone in another way. She was dumped on the ground just a minute and a half into the game and came up grimacing in obvious pain but refused treatment so she didn't have to leave the field.

'It just cracked somewhere in here,” she said, holding her elbow.

Union evened the score on a shot from Marika Kopriva in the 37th minute. Regal goalie Hannah Stein tried to tip it over the cross bar but wasn't able to get enough of the ball.

Lauren Ronnfeldt gave Regina the lead again in the 48th minute on a nice shot from a sharp angle on the right side.

'I got up there and I saw an opening and I shot it and it went in,” she said.

Then freshman Lauren Gaarde gave the Regals (16-3) what seemed like an insurmountable 3-1 lead in the 62nd minute.

'I didn't know at the time it was going to be a (deciding) goal, but Jenny just played a perfect ball and I'm just happy that it went in,” Gaarde said. 'I was out of the box and I had to run on to it. Everyone was saying I was offsides so I was a little bit nervous.”

But a two-goal lead should calm the nerves, right?

'It was the third goal and we were ready to go,” Gaarde said.

Not so fast.

'We knew they would have motivation to play better so they could play in the next game with their player who was out,” Ronnfeldt said.

With just 2:57 left Union's Dayton Powell scored just outside the top of the box.

'It was a little bit nerve-wracking, but I knew like our defense could pull it out because we have some really great defenders back there, and Hannah made some great saves this game,” Gaarde said.