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It's a good thing he did.

Dobyns had the game of his life in the Little Hoyas' 10-8, come-from-behind victory over Baltimore City power Gilman. But it was not just the five goals he scored.

It was how he got them when his team needed him most.

"I went out during lunch to shoot and people were like, ‘Do you feel it today?' I'm like, ‘Yeah, I'm feeling it,'" said Dobyns. "Once I got that first one, I knew it was going to be a hell of a day."

The icebreaker was the easiest for Dobyns, who stole an errant pass right in front of the Greyhounds' (2-1) cage and struck 40 seconds into the game. But after running mate Bobby Gribbin scored 90 seconds later, Gilman took control.

When defender Tripp Trainor scored early in the third quarter, the reigning Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A champions led, 6-3.

Then Dobyns caught fire, saving Prep (2-0) from its third straight loss in the annual matchup.

He cut the lead to 6-4 with an amazing, behind-the-head shot from 10 yards out, then capitalized on a slick interior feed from attackman Mike Pirone with 5 minutes left in the third quarter.

Then he got additional help from his friends. Almost a full quarter later, University of Michigan commit Fern Murias tied the score, and 20 after that, Gribbin gave the Little Hoyas the lead for good. Fourteen seconds after that, middie Taylor Morgan went untouched down the middle of Gilman's defense, connecting to extend the lead once more.

Three goals in 35 seconds.

"Our passing got a lot better as the game went on," said Gribbin. "This is so big for us."

After the Greyhounds cut the lead to one, Dobyns provided the icing on the cake. With just over 3 minutes remaining, he scooped a ground ball from behind the net and acrobatically finished in traffic. He capped his virtuoso performance half a minute later, ripping a shot upper 90, left side.

"Everyone thinks maybe we'll be down," said Dobyns. "We lost a great goalkeeper in [2009 Gazette Player of the Year] John Kemp. But we're really unselfish, and I think it's going to be a big year."

Added Gribbin: "Undefeated, No. 1 in the nation — that's the goal."