In achieving its ultimate goal, realizing how demanding it is and making more program history, Loyola Blakefield football had a championship game performance against a stubborn Curley that represented its special season well.
In Sunday night’s Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association Conference A title game, played in pouring rain at a packed UMBC Stadium, the Dons No. No. 1 took control early and then impressively handled a sustained push in the second half from the No. 1 Friars. 2.
It wasn’t until sophomore Brody Good, parked at the far post, headed home Joel Romero’s corner kick with 3:38 remaining that the Dons finally felt comfortable. A 2-0 win soon completed the successful defense of its conference crown.
All-Metro senior forward Sammie Walker scored what turned out to be the game-winner with 12:54 left in the first half and a tremendous defensive effort kept the ball out of control during Curley’s relentless work throughout most of the second half.
The 2024 Dons, following up last year’s 14-0-4 campaign, were the first in program history to repeat as champions, finishing 14-2-2. This was Loyola’s fifth conference title.
“Redoing was definitely 10 times harder than we expected, but we battled through it all and have the team to do it,” said Walker, who is committed to West Virginia.
He later added: “We know how hard we can work and how much it takes and we are definitely up for the challenge throughout the season.”
Following a 4-1 win over Mount Saint Joseph in the semifinals, the Dons began to attack continuously 10 minutes into the game. They were finally rewarded when Walker received a square pass from Diego Hernandez and quickly turned around, finding the right corner from 16 yards out for a 1-0 lead with 12:54 left in the first half.
At halftime, Curley coach Barry Stitz urged the Friars to give more – everything they had – and they responded from the opening whistle of the second half.
Over the next 30 minutes, Curley sent ball after ball in front of the Dons’ goal, but none got past senior goalkeeper Drew Mattingly, who made five saves and received tireless help from a back line led by senior Ryan Andrews. The Friars’ best sequence in the equalizer came midway through the half when Landon Beckman found Casey Price, whose shot was deflected out of bounds.
The next corner lingered in the middle before a shot was cleared off the line.
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With 5:40 remaining, Nick Lentz sent a free kick from midfield in front of Mattingly just before Friars forward Jack Comey. Apart from Mattingly and Andrews, Michael Leming, Michelangelo Parravano and Hernandez are part of the defense.
A few minutes later, Good provided relief for the Dons with his insurance goal.
“We were the first team in Loyola history to do it [repeat as champions] and I’m very proud of all my players,” said Andrews, a captain and the only returning starter on defense. “Our back line, for 20 minutes at the end of the game, we defended – header after header – I’m very proud of them. It was nerve-wracking, but I knew if we worked as hard as we could as a unit, we would do it. No questions.”
With extremely high expectations going into the season and their third coach, Geaton Caltabiano, in as many years, the Dons played early. Opening 8-0-1 to extend their unbeaten run to 27 games before McDonogh ended it with a 1-0 win on 8 October. Soon after came a stunning 1-0 loss to last place Concordia Prep. They handled Curley 6-1 early in the season and then tied the Friars, 2-2, in the teams’ second meeting in the regular season.
Playoff time, the Dons’ experience and togetherness again came to the fore with a 4-1 semifinal win over Mount St. Joseph sets up a title shot.
“A lot of pressure from Day 1, a lot of expectations,” said Caltabiano, who also won an MIAA A championship as a Mount Saint Joseph player. “Then we had some downturns during the season and some people wanted to write us off and I give a lot of credit to this group. After we lost to Concordia… we really came together as a team, we showed our character and responded really well. Things can go wrong, but good teams, winning teams stick together.”
Curley, seeking the program’s fourth championship and first since 2006, had a good season on top of a great season with the ball bouncing on UMBC’s wet court. After defeating McDonogh on penalties in an epic semifinal, the Friars (17-3-2) did all they could in a character-filled second half.
“In the second half, what more could you ask for from a group of players? They played really hard,” Stitz said. “At one point, I think we were mostly beating them 6-0 and then we gave up a set piece which was unfortunate. But we banged on the door and it was a great effort from the players. It was a great season, great senior leadership and nothing to worry about with that effort. Loyola is a very good team and they deserved to win.”
Have a news tip? Contact sports editor Tim Schwartz at timschwartz@baltsun.com410-332-6200 and x.com/timschwartz13.
Target: LB – Walker, Good
Help: LB — Hernandez, Romero
Keep: AC—Griffith 7; LB — Very important 5
Half: LB, 1-0
Originally Published:
Gaming Hub
A gaming hub can refer to a central platform or space dedicated to gaming, where players can access games, interact with other gamers, and enjoy related content. Here are a few different kinds of gaming hubs you might be referring to:
Physical Gaming Hubs:
Gaming Cafés: Physical locations where players can rent time on high-end gaming PCs or consoles to play popular multiplayer or single-player games.
Esports Arenas: Specialized venues for competitive gaming tournaments where players or teams face off in games like League of Legends, CS
, or Fortnite.
Digital Gaming Hubs:
Steam, Epic Games Store, or GOG: Digital storefronts where you can purchase and play games, join online communities, and access updates and patches.
Game Launchers: Platforms like Steam, Blizzard’s Battle.net, and Xbox Game Pass often act as hubs where gamers can access multiple titles and keep track of their library.
Cloud Gaming Platforms: Services like NVIDIA GeForce Now or Xbox Cloud Gaming that allow players to stream games on various devices without needing high-end hardware.
Social/Community Gaming Hubs:
Discord Servers: Dedicated communities for games where players can chat, share tips, and find others to play with.
Reddit Communities: Subreddits dedicated to specific games or gaming news.
Gaming Consoles as Hubs:
Systems like the PlayStation, Xbox, or Nintendo Switch act as central hubs for playing games, interacting with friends, and even streaming content like Netflix or Twitch.
If you meant something specific by “gaming hub,” let me know and I can elaborate further!
