The Baylor School boys' soccer team is starting to make Murfreesboro into a second home.
The Red Raiders will make their sixth straight appearance in the Division II-AA state tournament's final four after a 3-2 win over Pope John Paul II in the quarterfinals Friday.
"Our seniors don't know anything less than a final four, and that's our goal every year," said Baylor coach Curtis Blair. "Once you get there, anything can happen."
Baylor (12-3-2) defeated Pope John Paul (7-7-0) 2-0 in their regular-season meeting, but this time around the Knights nabbed an early lead as Wyatt Kaiser corralled the ball at the top of the box and slid it into the left side seven minutes in.
Baylor head soccer coach Curtis Blair talks to a player coming off the field at McCallie School in Chattanooga in this 2014 file photo."We came out really tight," Blair said. "I think sometimes you want to perform so well that you actually end up playing poorly. Our touch game was off, and we just wanted our guys to relax and get the ball moving."
The Red Raiders responded to the early deficit, starting to mount momentum. The ball found Baylor feet more often, and they fired a barrage of shots toward the opposing goal. Once Victor Ulmo blasted a shot from well outside the box and slammed the crossbar, an equalizer seemed inevitable.
With 8:30 remaining in the first half, Kyle Johnston delivered. Ulmo lifted a corner kick toward the right post, and Johnston headed it across the goal to bury it into the left side. Six minutes later, Johnston was taken down inside the box and gave his team the lead with a confident penalty strike. Baylor went into halftime up 2-1.
"We feel like it's a matter of time," Blair said. "Once we get that first goal, we will score multiple. We just have to get started. We thought they would sit back and defend, which is what they did, and that allowed us to move the ball even more and open up."
In the sixth minute of the second half, Johnston appeared to put the game out of reach with another goal to complete the hat trick.
The Knights would not make it that easy. Kaiser slipped a clever pass to Alex Lanigan, who brought his team within one with the finish.
"My guys played with a tremendous amount of heart tonight," Pope John Paul coach Alan Mila said. "They gave every ounce of effort, and I like to think we gave Baylor everything they could handle. We had a game plan and executed. Kudos to Baylor for still being able to get it done."
The Knights continued to work for the tying strike but to no avail. Christian Roberts sent a long, bending shot toward the goal with under two minutes to play, but Colin Brewer was there with a diving save to preserve the win.
Baylor, last year's state runner-up, will head to Spring Fling in search of its first title since 2012.
Contact Idris Garcia at sports@timesfreepress.com.