Regina up to the task, but No. 1 Assumption claims seventh state title

DES MOINES — If raw effort always meant success on the scoreboard, Regina would be undefeated, and it certainly would have prevailed Saturday in the Class 1A girls' soccer championship game. But despite the tremendous effort, the second-ranked Regals fell to No. 1 Davenport Assumption, 1-0.

Assumption (17-2-1) won its seventh championship. Regina (15-6) was playing in its first title game.

The winning score came on a penalty kick by Molly Gervase after a teammate was fouled in the box in the 54th minute.

'Last year, I wasn't very comfortable with PKs, so I really worked on them, and so today when the moment came I just decided to kick,' Gervase said.

Kennedy Brown, who was called for the foul, described side-to-side action in the box, and she got caught going one way when the Assumption player went the other.

It was a most unappetizing way to lose after running up and down the field 80 minutes in the third consecutive game played in 90-degree heat.

Assumption's speed was the biggest concern for the Regals, and the Knights took advantage to create a number of opportunities.

'We knew on their back left side they had really good crosses, and so we were trying to get our outside backs to make sure they couldn't cross the ball,' Brown said. 'And in the middle we were looking to mark up. I think we pretty much accomplished that.

'The main thing is our midfielders and backs had to get back for us.'

It seemed like Assumption had the ball most of the time, but the Regals thought otherwise.

'Honestly I thought we dominated possession,' Regina senior Jenny Wick said. 'It was just a matter of them getting the ball forward, something they do well, and using their speed.'

Gervase said Assumption was well aware of the threats posed by the Regals.

'They're good at combinations in the middle and playing long to the corners so it really keeps our defense on our toes playing in the corner,' she said. 'They are incredible in the air. That's one of their biggest strengths.'

Regina's Lauren Gaarde had a great chance to score on a run just before the PK.

'Me and the goalie collided,' she said. 'It was like in basketball, I had a high ankle sprain, and it was basically a repeat of that. Jenny had a great ball and it was bobbling around and we all kind of collided.'

For a tantalizing second, the ball was loose inches from the goal but it trickled out of bounds. Worse for the Regals was that Gaarde, a mobile attacker, was hurt and had to be taken out.

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Regina moved Brown up top to take advantage of her athleticism, and she ripped a shot with 11 minutes left, but Knights' keeper Clare Gervase made a great diving stop. Brown later got a yellow card and Regina was forced to rally with both Brown and Gaarde out. But don't think the Regals weren't game.

'This is the most amazing group I've ever worked with all four years,' Wick said. 'They've worked so hard and we've worked so hard for all of this. I'm really proud of everyone. We worked hard every single day at practice. There was not one day we let up.

'If we can do that, we knew we had it in us to finish the game. All we needed was one goal.'