^{Preview Play-by-play Recap}

Preview

Semifinal #1: St Ignatius vs Loyola

Game Time: 11:30am; Saturday, May 21

Coaches: St Ignatius-Brian Drumm (4th year) /

How They Got Here: St Ignatius beat Schaumburg 16-6 in the quarterfinals. Loyola beat McHenry 13-11 in the qtrfinals.

Previous 2011 Meetings: Tied 1-1. Loyola won the first meeting at home 11-10; Ignatius won 12-7 in the MCAC playoffs.

Current Rankings: St Ignatius - #4 / Loyola - #8

Top Performers: St Ignatius (Mark Alvarado - 124 goals) / Loyola (Charlie Dowdle - 109 goals)

The Goalies: St Ignatius (Mike Fratto) / Loyola (Robbie O'Connor)

Talking Points: The teams split the season series, with Ignatius' more recent win at a neutral site providing a little more insight than their earlier meeting. That said, Loyola has caught fire down the stretch, outlasting several tough teams like GBS, New Trier, and now McHenry. Meanwhile, the Wolfpack cruised to a 16-6 win over Schaumburg as they ironed out the kinks of playing on the big stage in their tournament opener. The main question is can Loyola bounce back from a tough and physical game against McHenry? The other question for the Ramblers is can they contain Mark Alvarado and the Wolfpack offense? For Ignatius, they will need to stop both Brendan Hulseman and Charlie Dowdle if they hope to make it to the state title game on Saturday.

Other Players to Watch: 

St Ignatius (Brayden Amendola, Jaime Juarez, Kevin Barth, Paul Bouschlicher, Tom Maloney)

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