Regina beats Holy Trinity in 2nd OT, 3-2

DES MOINES - Rick Larew had to admit it. He never saw his team win.

“Sorry,” the Iowa City Regina soccer coach said after the Regals' 3-2 double-overtime win over Fort Madison Holy Trinity in the Class 1A state championship game Saturday at Cownie Park. “I was trying to figure out how our kid with crampy legs was doing (on the sideline). I was talking to him, so I didn't see it. You'll have to tell me what happened.”

What happened was a gritty, gutty comeback win capped by Ryan Lynch's first goal of the season. The sophomore midfielder had a loose ball off a Paul Jensen corner kick fall right on his foot, kicking it home 1:12 into the second 10-minute OT to give Regina (19-4-1) back-to-back state titles.

Enjoy the video of this one, Coach. It'll be a beauty.

“It was a cross, and (teammate) Dan (Larew) had it go between his legs,” Lynch said. “I just happened to be there and took advantage ... Not a bad first goal.”

Not a bad rally. The Regals fell behind, 2-0, just 17 minutes in. It was still a two-goal game in the second half when Sean Han poked in a rebound shot at the 28:42 mark after HT goalkeeper made a terrific tip save on an original drive outside the box by Regina midfielder Zach Pechous.

Regina continued immense offensive pressure the rest of regulation but appeared to come up shy of the tying goal until Pechous let loose with another cannon straight out about 30 yards that hit the back of the net. Tie game with 2:31 left.

“I just knew we needed to score,” said Pechous. “I told Coach I wanted to play up (on the field) from defensive mid. I just kind of took the ball out of the air, dribbled down ... and shot it. I was so happy, couldn't believe it. Usually I don't score many goals.”

“I just said ‘Guys, if we can play the way we can play, we'll come back to win,'” Coach Larew said. “I thought we didn't play as well as we could in the first half. Everyone made a lot of mistakes. I just said if we just continue to game that we can, let's just have confidence in ourselves and our teammates ... and we'll come back and score some goals, and who knows what will happen then?”

Not Larew.

"I had complete faith in my teammates," Pechous said. "They (HT) were starting to get tired.  We went into halftime and said 'It's all in our hearts and our minds.'"

And their feet.

Here's are short videos of Regina hoisting the championship trophy and an interview with Lynch:

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