Lojek Leads Sandburg Past Andrew in Soccer Regional Semifinal

Danny Lojek scored two goals to lead top-seeded Sandburg to a 4-2 victory over 13^th-seeded and host Andrew in Tuesday's IHSA Class 3A regional soccer semifinal.

The Eagles (16-5) also got goals from Eric Maier and Kevin Kroll to advance to Saturday's regional final.

"I think we're a good team and we have the ability to be very dangerous," Sandburg coach Jack Ferraro said. "Lojek is a solid player, and he needs to stay on the field and not draw a bad yellow card. If my starters can stay on the field, we'll be fine."

Sandburg, the Southwest Suburban Blue champion, set the tone early with a goal with a little more than a minute gone in the game. On a corner kick, Sandburg senior defender Eric Maier's header found the back of the net.

The Eagles would get a few more solid chances in the first half, but Andrew goalie Pat Mungovan stopped them all, including two breakaways.

Sandburg outshot Andrew (6-14-2) by a 10-1 count in the first half  but led only 1-0 at halftime.

"Pat has been our force and solid all season," Andrew coach Pat MacDonald said. "He's a solid keeper, and I wish we could have done more for him. He's a great goalie, and our record was embarrassing."

"In the beginning, we were frustrated," Lojek said.

The second half saw more aggressive play on both sides of the ball. The Eagles got two quick goals from Lojek. His first came with just over 11 minutes played in the half, and his second came about five minutes later when he beat Mungovan point-blank.

"In the beginning, we were frustrated," Lojek said. "Coach told us to keep our heads. … When I got that (first) goal, that made things easier."

Andrew senior midfielder Kevin Hennington beat Sandburg senior keeper Adam Zehme on a penalty kick, and Mike D'Ambrosio scored with just over 10 minutes left to cut Sandburg's lead to 3-2. Andrew stayed aggressive against the Eagles, drawing four yellow cards against them in the half, but it wouldn't be enough. Kroll's score with three minutes left to play sealed the victory for Sandburg.