Off to good start

Loyola's Dylan Remick (right) and Brother Rice's John Stewart go up for a header, during an Oct. 11 match. Remick scored two goals for the Ramblers on Monday, during a 4-0 victory over Steinmetz.
(Jerry Daliege/for pioneer press)

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Head coach Rob Etheridge's Loyola boys soccer team took step two toward redemption.

After the Ramblers last year unexpectedly failed to reach the IHSA State Finals, step one of recovery was the Ramblers winning their third straight Chicago Catholic League title last week. The Ramblers (13-2-2, 4-0-1) ended the regular season with a 1-1 tie against De La Salle on Oct. 14.

Step two took place Monday when the Ramblers blanked Chicago Steinmetz 4-0 in the first round of the Loyola Regional.

"We dominated the match," Etheridge said. "It should have been a higher score -- we were that good. We did a good job of putting the game away in the first half, that is something we have always done this season."

Dylan Remick scored two goals and Tommy Belton added another as Loyola jumped out to a commanding 3-0 lead after 20 minutes of play. Mike Berens buried a fourth goal late in the contest.

"We're peaking now," Etheridge said. "The focus is to play as many games in the state tournament as you can."

"We have to accomplish more this year," he said. "If we maintained this focus and be aggressive, we should be OK."

Loyola meets either Maine West or Mather at 2 p.m. Saturday in the regional finals at the Loyola athletic complex.