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The St. John's-Catholic Prep girls soccer team wanted to set the tone early, but it took a late effort to beat visiting Garrison Forest 4-3 on Tuesday in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland quarterfinals.

Stepping carefully through sloppy footing, senior forward Jennie Ballenger cut to her left, then her right, then back to her left before sending the winning shot into the goal, giving the Vikings (14-4) their final lead with only 8 minutes and 20 seconds left to play. They will now move onto Thursday's semifinals against the winner of Baltimore area schools Roland Park and Friends.

"There was not a lot of footing there," Ballenger said. "I think I had like two dribbles. I was just going with the flow of the game."

Nine minutes into the match the Vikings got their first score when Ballenger sent a long shot in from the right corner, which hit the deep left pocket of the net.

Senior midfielder Jessica Breen scored on a direct kick from the top of the penalty box, and sophomore forward Mariel Pierce slipped down and splattered into the mud while scoring, making it 3-0 at halftime.

Garrison Forest (5-10) seriously challenged in the second half. When junior Dani Stoner hit a penalty kick five minutes in, the Vikings didn't hit the panic switch. With 18 minutes left to play, St. John's was still playing with a sense of control, but senior Emily Bishop scored for the visitors to make it 3-2. And 30 seconds later, junior Alex Billhardt completed a wild charge through the Vikings defense to tie the game up.

St. John's head coach Sheldon Henry knew that the Grizzlies had a potent offense, but junior keeper Victoria Elliot helped negate that with 10 saves.

"They're a team that can score goals, and we warned them about that," Henry said. "I was really happy with how [St. John's] played. They played tough."

Because the Vikings are the No. 1 seed, they'll keep home field advantage, playing on the mud-bogged field.

"Against the teams we're playing, it's an advantage," Henry said. "Schools like Garrison Forest, they play on turf fields. A little rain, a little mud, it helps us out. It's our home field."

Henry also noted that the team's confidence level is pretty high right now, after winning the Maryland Independent Private Schools State Championship over the weekend.

They beat St. Maria Goretti 3-1 in the finals, with Ballenger scoring all three goals.