Larry Leonhardt could sense it coming.

Bishop Chatard had avoided Roncalli in the first round of sectionals the past couple of years, so it came as no surprise to see the teams matched up at 6 p.m. Oct. 19 at Howe. Despite being paired with the second-ranked team in 3A, Leonhardt sees the first-round matchup as an advantage.

"We were due," said Leonhardt, whose team lost to Roncalli on Sept. 11. "(But) I don't mind finding out right off the bat where we are. It means we can focus on just one team and not be in danger of overlooking one of the other opponents. If we had drawn someone else, we'd be capable of overlooking them and being upset."

The Trojans had won six of the past eight matches entering their regular season finale at North Central on Wednesday.

Leonhardt looks forward to having more than a week of practice to focus on Roncalli.

"I still see what we can work on," Leonhardt said. "I'm happy to have the time to do that and to be able to get better every day. I'm glad we're not playing this Thursday."