The following previews provide a brief glimpse into the four quarterfinal matchups that take place on Thursday, May 20. Again, no predictions can be found here.

Quarterfinal #1: McHenry (28-4) vs St Ignatius (22-9)

Game Time: 4:30pm; Thursday, May 20

Coaches: McHenry-Craig Fowles (6th year) / St Ignatius-Brian Drumm (3rd year)

How They Got Here: McHenry beat Palatine 9-8 at the Barrington Sectional. St Ignatius beat Latin 8-7 at the UIC Sectional.

Previous 2010 Meetings: None.

Current Rankings: McHenry - #9 / St Ignatius - #6

Top Performers: McHenry (Reilly Shanahan - 157 goals) / St Ignatius (Brendan Moore - 88 goals, 45 assists)

The Goalies: McHenry (Dan Brucki & Alex Birkle) / St Ignatius (Mike Fratto)

The X-Factor: The teams did not meet in 2010. That could make for an interesting matchup, especially in the first quarter when the teams are getting used to one another. Both teams also have recent state tournament experience; they each lost in separate quarterfinal games in 2009.

Other Players to Watch: 

McHenry (Andrew Hertel, Drew Schmitt, Dylan Clohessy, Kyle Braun, Matt Feltes, Scott Dabrowski, Phil Lesniak, Tim Briscoe)

St Ignatius (Giuliano Wrobel, Jack Abernethy, Jack Turek, Jaime Juarez, Mark Alvarado, Tom Maloney)

Quarterfinal #2: Fenwick (30-2) vs Brother Rice (27-3-1)

Game Time: 5:45pm; Thursday, May 20

Coaches: Fenwick-Dave Perry (23rd year) / Brother Rice-Bill Mulcrone (8th year)

How They Got Here: Fenwick beat Oak Park 10-9 at the York Sectional. Brother Rice beat Lyons 10-5 at the LT Sectional.

Previous 2010 Meetings: Series tied 1-1. Brother Rice beat Fenwick 13-10 on 3/22. Fenwick beat Brother Rice 13-9 on 5/8.

Current Rankings: Fenwick - #1 / Brother Rice - #4

Top Performers: Fenwick (Will Rigali - 81 goals, John Osborne - 77 goals) / Brother Rice (Matt Stelnicki, Sean Davis)

The Goalies: Fenwick (Dan Francisco) / Brother Rice (Geno Freeman)

The X-Factor: Brother Rice is one of only two teams to beat Fenwick this season. However, the Friars won the most recent and most important meeting in the MCAC Tournament and are also coming off a close win over state title contender Oak Park. Can the Crusaders regain their early season form to top the Friars again, or will Fenwick be able to repeat their conference title winning performance from two weeks ago?

Other Players to Watch:

Fenwick (Chris Dan, Connor Brown, DJ Gallo, Matt Farmer, Ted Herbstritt, Viken Huening)

Brother Rice (Kyle Pikula, Mike Mulcrone, Nick Joslyn, Peter Wasik, Steve McGinnis)

Quarterfinal #3: Mundelein (26-7) vs Loyola (22-11)

Game Time: 7:00pm; Thursday, May 20

Coaches: Mundelein-Rahul Sethna (13th year) / Loyola-Dan Hengelmann (3rd year)

How They Got Here: Mundelein beat Stevenson 12-11 at the VH Sectional. Loyola beat New Trier 8-7 at the GBS Sectional.

Previous 2010 Meetings: None.

Current Rankings: Mundelein - #5 / Loyola - #10

Top Performers: Mundelein (Will Davidson - 118 goals, Pat Falconer - 101 goals) / Loyola (TJ Considine - 87 goals)

The Goalies: Mundelein (David Dickinson) / Loyola (Henry Hermes)

The X-Factor: Another matchup where the teams did not meet at all in 2010. Neither team has a player with state tournament experience, so getting the nerves out of the system early could be a big factor for the team that is most ready to deal with the pressure of a postseason appearance on the grand stage.

Other Players to Watch:

Mundelein (Adam Turkula, Brandon Horsch, Frank Lukacs, Jeff Anderson, Nick Mandas, Sean Falconer)

Loyola (Charlie Dowdle, Connery Brennan, Connor Murphy, Jimmy Nickele, Pat Stein, Steve Freedman)

Quarterfinal #4: Naperville Central (28-4) vs Homewood-Flossmoor (23-8)

Game Time: 8:15pm; Thursday, May 20

Coaches: NC-Bill Salentine (10th year) / H-F-Tim Caldwell (9th year)

How They Got Here: NC beat Waubonsie 26-8 at the Neuqua Valley Sectional. H-F beat LWE 12-3 at the LWC Sectional.

Previous 2010 Meetings: NC leads series 1-0. Naperville Central beat H-F 17-9 on 4/29.

Current Rankings: NC - #3 / H-F - #11

Top Performers: NC (Mark Menis - 102 goals) / H-F (Russell Maanum - 138 goals, Shay Banton -118 goals)

The Goalies: NC (Pat Stablein) / H-F (Jake Bodnar)

The X-Factor: Menis and Stanley combined to score 10 goals in the only meeting between the two teams back in April, which saw the Redhawks earn a 17-9 win. Can the Vikings' defense find a way to stop those two from scoring early to give Banton and Maanum a chance to lead them in the late stages of the late-night game?

Other Players to Watch:

NC (Danny Tucker, Dennis Herron, Jay Howenstine, Kristian Altuve, Kyle Rickert, Pat May, Ryan Stanley, Tom Shamburek)

H-F (Alec Wojack, Alex Diorio, Caleb Peterson, Kevin Kuchta, Luke Dobben)