Nine times, Iowa City Regina boys soccer has been to the state finals.
Nine times, it became state champions.
The No. 1 seed Regals took care of business against No. 3 St. Albert, winning 3-2 in the state title match at Mediacom Stadium on Friday, June 5. Leading the way, as he has all season, was star senior Laird Holden. He recorded a hat track in his final game as a high schooler, pushing his team to one last win.
In turn, St. Albert’s 2026 campaign came to an end. This was the program’s 12th appearance in the state tournament and its second time finishing as a runner-up. Leading the way for the Falcons this year was Kyle Irwin with 29 goals and 25 assists, but the Regals found a way to keep his offensive output limited on Friday. St. Albert’s two goals came late in the second half from Tanner Estell and Morgan Young, the latter of which was assisted by Irwin.
Regina moves to 9-0 all-time in the state finals, a remarkable feat that is a major credit to head coach Rick Larew, who has been leading the program for all nine championships. He didn’t want to take direct credit after the game, but rather praised his team’s commitment to making the victory a reality and their attention to detail.
“I said to them, ‘I can give you the road map, I can show you how we’ve done it before, but you guys have to do the work,'” Larew said. “‘But it has to be more than the four or six of you around the table. You’ve got to get everybody involved. You got to get everybody sold that this is something that you all want to do.’ What they’ve been able to achieve by doing this, it’s just incredible.”
After a slower start to the game on a sunny, humid day in Des Moines, Holden got things going for the Regals with a goal in the 26th minute. Connor Hoffman received the ball on a long pass down the field, turned to his left and fired a leading pass to Holden. The star senior raced up the left side of the box and touched a shot past the goalkeeper for a 1-0 lead that carried into halftime.
Holden found the back of the net once again in the 43rd minute. He stole a pass deep in the defensive half of St. Albert, shook a defender for a one-on-one opportunity with the goalkeeper and doubled the lead to 2-0 with one swing of his leg. After Regina drew a penalty in the 55th minute, Holden completed his hat trick by finding the back of the net from the spot.
St. Albert surged late, starting with a goal in the 65th minute. A cross from Ben Krohn found Estell for an easy header to cut the deficit to 3-1. In the 74th minute, a pass from Irwin found Young for a quick score to get within one goal, but it was not enough and Regina held on to win.
While Holden was the star, he was quick to credit the other 10 players around him on the pitch.
“I couldn’t do anything without them,” Holden said. “The hustle, the preventative effort on defense. We let up two, but it wasn’t three, so still enough to win. I can’t attribute enough to them. I’m so thankful to be on this team. I love everyone.”
The Regals cap off one of the more dominant seasons in recent memory in Iowa high school soccer, going an unbeaten 21-0-1 on the year. Their lone tie came against Class 3A’s Pleasant Valley all the way back on April 7, nearly two months ago. Otherwise, Regina had been perfect against schools of similar size.
At the backbone of this special season was Holden, who ended his high school career with a state title, a hat trick in the state finals and 43 total goals as a senior. He and 12 other seniors have been building to this moment to give the Regals their first state title since 2019. This title ties Iowa City West for the most championships all-time in Iowa boys soccer at nine.
“I think there’s also a precedent being 8-0 going into this game (in state title games), 9-0 after, ‘We’re here, we got to win it,'” Holden said. “It’s our thing.”
Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa City Regina claims boys soccer state title over St. Albert
Reporting by Eli McKown, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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By Eli McKown, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
