Loyola coach Don Kraft describes the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference boys soccer competition as a marathon run of 16 league games with a sprint at the finish.
The sprint for the league title began yesterday, and the host Dons won their first-round game against John Carroll of Harford County, 1-0.
The victory sends Loyola (12-4-3) into tomorrow's semifinals on the road against McDonogh.
A coaching move by Kraft paid big dividends against the Patriots (6-12-3). He switched outside halfback Andrew Henciak to forward to give the Dons more speed up top, hoping to beat John Carroll's offside trap with a breakaway.
And that's exactly what happened in the 29th minute. Henciak made a diagonal run and Kris Brake sent him a nice through ball. John Carroll goalkeeper Drew Westervelt was left with no help and backed up. Henciak then delivered an unstoppable, right-footed blast to the upper left part of the net.
It was Henciak's sixth goal this season.
"We practiced yesterday against their flat-back-four defense and their offside trap," said Henciak. "The trap worked a lot against us the last time we played, but only a couple of times today."
The two teams tied 0-0 the last time, and Loyola won their other previous meeting this season, 1-0. John Carroll has beaten Loyola only once in the past five years with two ties.
"Our games are always close and intense," said Henciak, who lives in Bel Air and grew up knowing many of the John Carroll players at St. Margaret's Elementary School. "Both teams had a lot of chances. Our defense played well and we just kind of hung on at the end."
Loyola outshot John Carroll 16-6, but the Patriots' Alex Pyzik got off two hard shots on goal in the last 10 minutes. One bounced harmlessly off Loyola goalkeeper Akira Richardson, and the other one Richardson caught on a low diving save.
"We are 0-10 when the other team scores first, and 6-2-1 when we score first, so we knew we were in trouble after they scored," said Patriots coach Mario Scilipoti. "We played hard and fought the good fight, but Andrew [Henciak] burned us on a great goal."
Loyola's leading scorer, Kevin Mezzadra, another player who lives in Harford County, was moved from forward to midfield.
"He [Mezzadra] was releasing beautiful through balls," said Kraft. "And we were definitely running on them. Now we'll be walking into the lion's den at McDonogh. It's hard to win there. It will take an inspired effort. But we can't wait."
Loyola has lost in the semifinals the past four seasons.