No. 2-ranked McDonogh visits No. 1 Archbishop Curley at 1 p.m. today with the regular-season Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference title at stake. The winner also will earn the top seed in the league tournament, which begins next week.

Fans should arrive about an hour before the scheduled 1 p.m. start, because a sizable crowd is expected and parking is limited.

Curley, ranked No. 14 nationally, is 15-0-1 overall, and 12-0-1. The Friars have outscored their opponents, 59-2, with a school-record 15 shutouts, including a league-opening 2-0 win over McDonogh.

McDonogh (20-2-1, 12-1) had won 17 consecutive games since losing to the Friars. The Eagles have a school-record 15 shutouts, which surpasses by two the record the Eagles established last season.

Curley was ranked No. 3 in the nation until a 2-2 tie with Calvert Hall ended its consecutive shutout streak at 12 games. However, the Friars already had surpassed the previous school record of nine shutouts established by the 16-0-1 championship squad of 1993.

Striker Marco Angelini and midfielder Brandon Quaranta, both juniors, are the Friars' top scorers with 13 goals and seven assists each. Midfielder Brandon Scarfield, a senior, has seven goals and eight assists.

Sweeper Steve Althoff and stopper Steve Novak, who scored the game-winning goal against the Eagles and in the first of two Curley victories over No. 7 Loyola, anchor the Friars defensively.

Both teams have 6-foot-3 goalkeepers, junior Adam Jackson for Curley and senior Bobby Benson for the Eagles. Benson plays behind two-time All-Metro defender Jon Cole, one-time All-Metro Vinnie Ciarpella, and Cap Poklemba.

The Eagles' scoring leaders are sophomore striker Kaiser Chowdhry (20 goals, 11 assists) and freshman Devin Barclay (11, nine).

Pub Date: 10/31/98