Iowa high school girls’ soccer regional finals: Thursday’s schedule, Gazette area games to watch

Iowa high school girls’ state soccer tournament bids will be awarded Thursday night. Here are the matchups for the the 24 regional finals, plus a closer look at six games featuring Gazette area teams.

All games start at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

Thursday’s Class 3A regional finals

Iowa City High (10-4) at No. 1 Waukee Northwest (15-1)

How they got here: Ava Bell’s 75th-minute goal gave City High a 1-0 win over Cedar Falls in a regional semifinal Tuesday. Northwest mercy-ruled Des Moines East, 10-0.

State tournament history: The Little Hawks have qualified four times, most recently in 2013. Northwest made its debut last season in its second school year.

Notable: Western Illinois commit Claire Brown, who leads City with 14 goals, is the school’s first girls’ state wrestling medalist. The Wolves have not lost to an Iowa team this year and ran the table in the CIML (8-0), a conference with eight of its nine teams playing in regional finals.

Dubuque Hempstead (14-3) at No. 6 Linn-Mar (15-3)

How they got here: Hempstead shut out rival Dubuque Senior, 3-0. Linn-Mar blanked Waterloo West, 10-0.

State tournament history: The Mustangs qualified three times in four years from 2013-2016. Linn-Mar has advanced seven times, including back-to-back appearances in 2018 and 2019. The Lions were upset in regional finals the last two seasons.

Notable: Linn-Mar has not lost a game against a Mississippi Valley Conference opponent since 2018, when none of the current players were in high school. These teams met in Marion 12 days ago; Linn-Mar scored five-second half goals to pull away for a 6-0 win.

Other games

No. 13 Council Bluffs Lincoln (13-5) at No. 4 West Des Moines Valley (13-3), 5 p.m.

No. 14 Mason City (16-2) at No. 3 Johnston (12-4)

No. 12 Urbandale (12-6) at No. 2 Ankeny (11-3-1), 3:30 p.m.

No. 11 Muscatine (11-5) at No. 7 West Des Moines Dowling (9-6)

No. 10 Waukee (8-7) at No. 5 Pleasant Valley (15-3)

No. 9 Bettendorf (13-3) at No. 8 Ankeny Centennial (9-6-1)

Thursday’s Class 2A regional finals

No. 12 Cedar Rapids Xavier (8-5) vs. No. 1 Waverly-Shell Rock (15-1), at Independence

How they got here: Freshman Macie Herting scored twice as Xavier dispatched Iowa Falls-Alden, 3-0. Waverly-Shell Rock handled Grinnell, 10-0.

State tournament history: Both programs are used to June trips to Des Moines. Xavier has qualified 18 times and has won 10 state championships. The Go-Hawks are 16-time qualifiers and claimed their first title in 2021. Xavier’s streak of consecutive state appearances stands at five, W-SR’s eight.

Notable: These teams opened the season against each other on April 6. Alli Seegers scored both goals in a 2-0 W-SR win. The Go-Hawks’ only loss came in a penalty shootout at No. 10 Norwalk.

Iowa City Liberty (9-8) at No. 9 Marion (11-2)

How they got here: Liberty got past Western Dubuque, 1-0, in a regional quarterfinal game last week, then stunned fifth-ranked Independence on the road Tuesday by the same scoreline. Marion beat Clear Creek Amana, 4-0.

State tournament history: Both programs are seeking their first trip to state.

Notable: Liberty is the only team that knocked off the top seed in any of the 24 regions Tuesday. Independence (14-2) beat Marion, 4-0, in Wamac East play on May 8.

Other games

No. 10 Norwalk (12-6) at No. 2 Dallas Center-Grimes (14-3)

No. 14 DeWitt Central (10-7) at No. 3 North Scott (12-3-1)

Fort Madison (11-5) at No. 4 Pella (13-2)

No. 11 North Polk (11-6) at No. 8 Bondurant-Farrar (11-5)

No. 15 Glenwood (12-5) at No. 6 Adel ADM (11-4)

Denison-Schleswig (9-8) at No. 7 Spencer (14-3)

Thursday’s Class 1A regional finals

Iowa City Regina (14-5) at No. 1 Des Moines Christian (13-2)

How they got here: Regina avenged a regular-season loss with a 2-0 win at Anamosa on Tuesday. Grace Gaarde surpassed 100 career goals in a 7-1 quarterfinal win over Grand View Christian in the quarterfinals. Des Moines Christian shut out Williamsburg, 4-0, then West Central Valley, 5-0.

State tournament history: Regina qualified seven straight seasons from 2012-2018. The defending state champion Lions broke through with their first two appearances the last two years and went all the way to the 1A final both times.

Notable: Gaarde leads Class 1A and is second statewide with 45 goals this season. Des Moines Christian’s two losses both came by a goal to ranked teams in bigger classes — North Polk and West Des Moines Dowling. It has outscored 1A teams 56-3.

No. 9 Center Point-Urbana (12-2) at No. 2 Nevada (13-3)

How they got here: CPU cruised past Cedar Valley Christian, 10-0, then eliminated Wamac West foe Vinton-Shellsburg, 3-1. The Cubs shut out a pair of Wamac teams: Benton Community, 10-0, and Solon, 3-0.

State tournament history: The Stormin’ Pointers are eight-time qualifiers and have advanced five of the last six seasons. Nevada is seeking its 11th straight berth and 14th all-time.

Notable: CPU won the Wamac West title and its only two defeats came against top-five Class 2A teams. Similarly, Nevada lost to two top-six 2A teams and a 3A opponent, all by one goal.

Other games

No. 13 Panorama (13-4) at No. 6 Van Meter (11-3), 5:30 p.m.

Dubuque Wahlert (4-13) at No. 3 Davenport Assumption (12-4)

Council Bluffs St. Albert (13-6) at No. 5 Underwood (10-2)

No. 11 Dike-New Hartford (10-6) at No. 4 Gilbert (11-5)

Sioux Center (13-3) at No. 7 Sioux City Heelan (14-3)

No. 10 Hudson (12-2) at No. 8 Denver (16-1)

Comments: nathan.ford@thegazette.com