McDonogh and Perry Hall, again!
It was last year's most stunning goal that produced the season's biggest upset: Perry Hall's Ray Rogowski provided it with an overtime header that beat No. 1 McDonogh on the Eagles' home field.
It turned out to help serve two purposes.
For the Gators, who were ranked No. 7 at the time and had lost to Archbishop Curley, 3-0, the day before, it showed they could play with anybody and gave them an added surge of confidence to later reach the Class 4A state championship game.
For McDonogh, it said nothing can be taken for granted. It would be the only setback for the Eagles as they finished with a 20-1 season as the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference champs.
One year later, the teams are set to meet again Saturday afternoon in the closing game of the two-day McDonogh Tournament.
Friday's games -- Perry Hall vs. Archbishop Curley, 3 p.m., and McDonogh vs. Centennial, 5 -- have been moved to Cedar Lane Park due to the rain.
Saturday's games, originally scheduled to take place at McDonogh, have been moved to Loyola College. The Centennial-Curley game is set for 12, with the McDonogh-Perry Hall showdown scheduled for 2.
Tomorrow, the tournament returns to McDonogh with Centennial and Curley set for 11 a.m. followed by the much-anticipated Perry Hall-McDonogh rematch.
Is there any added motivation on the Eagles' part?
"It's a different year, different team. But we do have a lot of the same players," said McDonogh coach Steve Nichols. "Last year's game was more of a wake-up call from a coaches' standpoint. If it doesn't happen we don't wake up and make that run. From a players' perspective, I think our guys took that result personally."





