Heartbreaking loss in penalty kicks for Regina (photo gallery)

DES MOINES - Waterloo Columbus scored real early and real late Friday afternoon. Then it scored enough even later to end Iowa City Regina's championship run.The Sailors got a tying goal from Angello Parmaw with just over a minute left in regulation and two huge saves from goalkeeper Jon Maas in a penalty kick situation to beat Regina, 3-2, in an exquisite Class 1A state soccer tournament semifinal at Cownie Park."The adrenaline was just flowing," said Columbus' Chris Sink, whose quick start up on a free kick led to Parmaw's goal. "Afterwards, I ran back and told (a teammate) 'I'm about to throw up.'"That nausea must have extended to Regina's side as well. The Regals (16-6-1) rallied from a goal down 1:06 into the game, then watched a lead slip away with 1:05 to go.Regina was seeking a fourth-consecutive 1A title. It'll play West Liberty in the 1A consolation game today at noon."You've got to play all the way through," said Regina Coach Rick Larew. "We talked about how something like 78 percent of goals are scored in the first five minutes or the last five minutes. Sure enough, that's what happened with us. We've talked about how you've got to be ready the first five minutes and the last five minutes, but we just weren't. Today we played a heavy price for it."Pat McLaughlin found himself wide open in front of the goal, blasting home a loose ball to give top-seeded Columbus (18-3-2) an immediate edge. But that seemed to fire up Regina, which carried the play most of the rest of the first 40 minutes.The Regals had one corner kick and three direct free kicks out front 25 yards or closer, finally converting the last one. Ryan Lynch and Aaron Schmitz ran a fake, with Schmitz taking a shot he buried in the 31st minute.Regina went ahead with 16:18 remaining in the second half when Ben Spanick emerged clear with the ball after a deflection and scrum in front, just seconds after Parmaw was stoned by Regina keeper Aidan Mullen on a wide-open shot in the box to the left of the goal. But Parmaw was tackled and fouled to the left of the goal outside the penalty area in the dying seconds, with Link alertly re-starting play and chipping a ball to the other side of the box that an open Parmaw gathered in and rocketed home."Usually I take the free kicks," Link said. "I set the ball down and was yelling his name as loud as I could. He just turned around open. I wouldn't want to have anybody else shoot other than him.""It was really hard for me, but I just tried as hard as I could," said Parmaw, a refugee from Burma with a limited grasp of English. "My (teammates) told me not to give up. I didn't, and we made it through this game."Columbus scored on all four of its PKs, with Maas stopping Regina's first (Ryan Lynch) and third (Jacob Vollstedt) shooters with dives to his left."I have no words," Maas said. "They did their job, and I did my job. That's all you can ask."What a run and what a season for a Regina team that had to be almost entirely rebuilt because of heavy graduation losses. Most of the regulars were underclassmen, including leading scorers Schmitz (a junior) and A.J. Adam (also a junior), so there's a good likelihood you'll be seeing the Regals again here."I thought we played well," Larew said. "There were a couple of mental lapses, which is part of (our) youth. To play as hard as you have to play from beginning to end is one of those things that makes soccer such a great game. The game is just never over until it's over. A single mental lapse, and, boy ... goals are hard to come by."

Iowa City Regina players react after their loss to Columbus Catholic in a shootout in their Class 1A semifinal game at the state soccer tournament on Friday, June 1, 2012, at Cownie Soccer Complex in Des Moines. (Liz Martin/The Gazette-KCRG)