Extra-time penalty kick boosts Regina to state

IOWA CITY - Nicolas Ziniel's penalty-kick saved Iowa City Regina's season.

The second-ranked Regals blew a three-goal lead in the second half, but Ziniel's extra-time penalty shot pushed Regina past No. 5 West Liberty in a thrilling, 4-3, win in a boys' Class 1A substate soccer final Saturday afternoon.

Ziniel's goal in the 88th minute sent the defending 1A champion Regals to the state tournament for the seventh consecutive season.

'I know it's my job to take that PK,” Ziniel said. 'Everything in my mind just clears. I just focus on hitting my shot.”

Regina (13-3) survived a frantic attack from West Liberty in the second half that netted three goals in a 25-minute span.

The Regals hadn't surrendered more than three goals in an entire game this season.

'We were lucky to get out of there with a victory,” Regina Coach Rick Larew said.

In extra time, Regina's Michael Adams worked his way into the penalty box, where he was tripped up by a couple of West Liberty defenders. The referee immediately marched to the center of the box to indicate a penalty-kick.

Ziniel drilled the PK into the corner of the net - a wild finish after a tumultuous second half for Regina.

'Our defense had a few letups and they capitalized,” Ziniel said. 'We really got down on ourselves, but we did a good job of picking it back up in overtime.”

West Liberty (11-4) trailed, 3-0, early in the second half when freshman Martin Menjivar-Banegas knocked in a goal in the 52nd minute with a sliding kick to the lower right corner of the net.

Five minutes later, in the 57th minute, Raudel Fierro sharply struck a free kick for the Comets' second goal. Then in the 77th minute, Andres Garcia-Vargas found the equalizing goal with a soft touch in front of the net.

'Nobody feels good now, but we played well,” said West Liberty Coach Mike Gunn, noting his team's strong group of underclassmen. 'All these guys know that we can come back. That's a good lesson.”

Ziniel gave Regina a 1-0 lead with a rebound shot following a corner kick in the 23rd minute. Andrew Yowell scored in the 36th minute off a nice pass from Ziniel for a 2-0 half-time lead.

Six minutes into the second half, Adams dribbled from left-to-right across the face of the goal box for an easy score that put Regina up 3-0.