Archbiship Curley gets the first chance to knock off the No. 1 McDonogh soccer team when it visits the defending Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference? Eagles this afternoon at 3 p.m. in the league semifinals. In the other semifinal, Gilman travels to Mount St. Joseph, with the two winners meeting in the title game on Monday at Johns Hopkins.

McDoogh (18-1 overall and 16-0 in the league) has been overwhelming opponents with equal parts of steady offense and strong defense. The Eagles have posted 13 straight shutouts wins and 15 overall, outscoring their opponents by a 62-7 margin for the season, with their only blemish coming against Perry Hall, a 2-1 overtime setback, on Sept. 13.

Julian Griggs, Mamdou Kansaye and Jeremy Kirkwood provide creativity on offense with Joe Vidmar, Marquez Fernandez and Joe Meyer providing the glue on defense. Vidmar is the only senior in the bunch.

Curley promises to give the Eagles a good test in a rematch of last year's title game. The Friars, led by defender Oumar Ballo, have stayed the closest with the Eagles during the regular season, with two 1-0 setbacks.

-- Glenn Graham