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Johnston leads Baylor back to final four

Signal Mountain's Fraser Goodgame (2) kicks the ball away from Baylor's Kyle Johnston (23) in this March 10, 2015, file photo.
Signal Mountain's Fraser Goodgame (2) kicks the ball away from Baylor's Kyle Johnston (23) in this March 10, 2015, file photo. Signal Mountain's Fraser Goodgame (2) kicks the ball away from Baylor's Kyle Johnston (23) in this March 10, 2015, file photo.

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.

photo 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.”