Iowa City Regina boys soccer fall short to Beckman Catholic in 1A showdown
The Regina boys soccer team was riding a three-game unbeaten streak as they played host to Beckman Catholic on Wednesday, but it was the Trailblazers (5-2) that got their hand raised in the Class 1A matchup.
The No. 9 Regals dropped a 3-2 contest to Beckman Catholic, falling to 5-2 on the season.
“I think we can play better,” said Regina head coach Rick Larew. “I think we just need to go back to playing the game that we play, play with a little more urgency and play a little smarter.”
It was a battle for positioning at the start of the first half. The Regals had plenty of scoring opportunities in the opening frame but couldn’t find the back of the net in the first 40 minutes. The tide shifted in favor of the Trailblazers who struck first at the 29th minute.
Senior Quinn Warren responded with a goal that pushed the score to 1-1 at the start of the second half but Beckman Catholic answered with back-to-back goals to force the Regals to rally.
Regina's Thor Olso scored in the final three minutes, and the Regals were aggressive in the final seconds but it wasn’t enough.
“We know the type of team they are so it’s sort of expected with a close game; we didn’t come out with the effort we needed, just too casual in the first half so when we got down a goal we sat down a little bit too much,” Warren said.
The loss is a bump in the road for a Regina team that made the 1A state semifinals last season.
Regina's loss ended a three-game unbeaten streak against Beckman Catholic, dating back to April 2023. Warren, the team’s leading scorer, said the team's energy took a hit during Beckman Catholic's opening score, which resonated down the stretch.
“I think immediately after that goal [by Beckman Catholic], we just were not there mentally; we have to step up, keep our chins high,” Warren said. “We came back a little bit with that [first Regina] goal, but we needed stuff before that to bring more effort into our team.”
In their last three wins, the Regals scored five or more goals-- a streak that they couldn't replicate on Wednesday. Olso believes constant energy could’ve added to the scoring throughout the game.
“I feel like if we just kept the intensity up a little and kept pressuring them to make mistakes--and instead of forcing the play we kind of let the ball do the work," Olso said. "I feel we could’ve saved a lot of energy and we could’ve made them slip up and we could’ve taken our advantages and put the ball in.”
The Regals will attempt to bounce back when they visit West Liberty (7-2) on Friday.
“We’ve played West Liberty and I know the guys on their team pretty well,” Warren said. They beat this Beckman team, 3-1, so it’s going to be another tough game but something we can’t handle.”
Marc Ray is the high school sports reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. He can be reached at MARay@gannett.com, and on X, formerly Twitter, at @themarcszn.
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Iowa City Regina boys soccer comes up short against Beckman Catholic
