^{Preview Play-by-play Recap}

Preview

Quarterfinal #2: Loyola (19-14) vs McHenry (29-4)

Game Time: 5:45pm; Friday, May 20

Coaches: Loyola-Dan Hengelmann (3rd year) / McHenry-Craig Fowles (7th year)

How They Got Here: Loyola beat New Trier 16-11 at the GBN Sectional. McHenry beat Palatine 17-7 at the VH Sectional.

Previous 2011 Meetings: None.

Current Rankings: Loyola - #8 / McHenry - #5

Top Performers:  Loyola (Charlie Dowdle - 105 goals) / McHenry (Kyle Braun - 76 goals) (Dylan Clohessy - 72 goals)

The Goalies: Loyola (Robbie O'Connor) / McHenry (Alex Birkle)

Key Factors: It's classic old-school Loyola water polo against a physical and deep McHenry squad. Since the teams did not meet in 2011, there's a lot of mystery surrounding this game. The Warriors are a battle-tested team that had to survive a semifinal round game against Mundelein and then come back and beat Palatine, which they did in convincing fashion, to get to state. On the other side, the Ramblers showed their resilience with a comeback win over Glenbrook South in the sectional semifinals at GBN, then, in somewhat surprising fashion, ran out to a big lead over New Trier en route to a second-straight state berth. And even though both teams played at state last season, McHenry is the much more experienced bunch...they return several starters from a team that lost in the first round to St Ignatius in 2010. Loyola is back (after losing a close quarterfinal game to Mundelein last season) with a refreshed starting lineup that includes only one returning starter in Charlie Dowdle. Something will have to give on Friday night, as one of these teams will advance to play in the semifinals on Saturday.

Other Players to Watch:

Loyola (Brendan Hulseman, Erik Goosmann, Jordan Hodur, Tim Netzel, Tyler St Germain, William LeCompte)

McHenry (Andrew Hertel, Drew Schmitt, Joe Peck, Lucas Matthys, Phil Lesniak, Scott Dabrowski, Tim Briscoe)