For the second time this season, the Greene County boys’ soccer team battled two-time defending State Class 1A Champion Regina Catholic of Iowa City beyond regulation, and for the second time the Rams came up short. The latest loss to the Regals was at the Class 1A State Tournament quarterfinals in Des Moines on Friday by a final of 2-1 after 80 minutes of regulation play was tied 1-1. Second ranked and fourth seeded Regina nipped eighth ranked and fifth seeded Greene County on a goal by senior Drew Hartwig 75 seconds into overtime to improve to 16-6 and move into Saturday’s semifinal, while Coach Carl Behne’s Rams ended the season at 14-6 with five of the losses to a State Tournament team, including two to Regina, two to Class 2A semifinalist Gilbert, and one to 1A qualifier North Polk (Alleman).

The Regals scored first on a goal by sophomore Alec Wick with just 3:47 gone in the contest. It was Wick’s 30th goal of the season. Ram sophomore Luis Velazco tied the game with 31 minutes, 19 seconds gone in the opening half with the assist to Junior Gutierrez, the state’s leading scored with 124 points. The goal was number 28 this season for Velazco.

The contest remained scoreless until the OT goal won it for the Regals. They’ll face eighth seed West Liberty on Saturday at noon in the semifinals. Sioux Center and Columbus, Waterloo, meet in the other 1A semifinal.