Griffins Shutout Marquette for Second Straight Conference Win

GODFREY – It was 90 degrees at kickoff on an unseasonably warm late March afternoon at Glazebrook Park as the Marquette Explorers hosted their Gateway Metro Conference opener against Father McGivney.

The Griffins used a late first-half goal to take control of the game and went on to win 3-0, improving to 4-1 on the young season. The Explorers fell to 2-1-1.

“It’s so early in the season, in a conference game, and playing against them, they’re always organized, coaching staff does a great job, their girls work hard and compete, their well-coached,” Father McGivney head coach Jason Turkington said of his opposition. “We started to do things a little better and then took advantage of a couple opportunities for sure.”

The game’s first threat at goal was in the 12^th minute from McGivney.

Natalie Beck received a through ball right outside the 18-yard box, took a couple touches, got around Marquette keeper Jessica Eales, but ran out of room as her tough angle shot hit the outside of the post and went out of play.

Due to the heat, a mandatory water break was called midway through the first half. Coming out of that break, the Explorers played their best soccer.

“We challenged them to play a little harder and take a little more pride,” Marquette head coach Brian Hoener said. “After that water break, we had a good sustained 10 to 12 minutes of keeping the ball in their area, getting some dangerous things, but we’re not fit enough to do that for long periods of time, and soccer is a game of fitness.”

Despite a Marquette resurgence, the Griffins were the ones to break the tie in the 34^th minute thanks to Beck. They took that 1-0 lead to the halftime break.

Eales was tested early and often in the second half, making a strong save to deflect out a dangerous in swinging corner kick in the 45^th minute. She pushed another shot over the bar six minutes later.

But there was nothing she could do about Beck’s blast in the 73^rd minute.

Beck won the ball back toward the touchline in her own half. As she crossed half field she began to cut toward the middle, blowing by a few defenders in the process, and then out of nowhere she released a wicked left-footed shot from about 25 yards out that screamed into the upper left corner to make it 2-0.

“Natalie’s been doing that for a long time,” Hoener said. “We got caught in transition and I thought we actually defended it pretty well maybe with the exception of not getting to the ball a little bit sooner, but she’s on her left foot 25-30 yards from goal and hits off the bar and down. Sometimes you have to just tip your cap to a special player, and she’s one of those special players.”

“She’s a special player,” Turkington agreed. “Sometimes she tries to do too much, and for a second I was like, ‘OK pass, OK pass, OK upper 90, whatever works for you.’ It’s a fantastic hit. She’s very talented.”

The third goal came with just 25 seconds left on the board after a defensive miscue from the Explorers.

A free kick was awarded right outside the 18-yard box at a perfect angle for a curved right-footed shot. That kick was delivered by Bristol Ellis who did exactly that, curled a shot up and over the two-person wall and past a fully outstretched Eales to make it 3-0.

“You hate to give up that last one. It’s one that’s correctable and fixable,” Hoener said. “We kind of stopped playing there toward the end of the game, and that’s what good teams do, punish you when you stop playing. To their credit, they played all the way to the whistle and got one with 25 seconds left. That’s what good teams do.”

After losing their first five meetings against the Explorers, McGivney has since won six straight, outscoring Marquette 17-1 in that stretch.

They’ll meet again in the regular season and very likely a third time in the postseason.

“They present a lot of problems for us,” Hoener said. “They played a much faster pace than we’re ready to play at this time of the year. We’re not fit enough to play at the pace that they were playing at. So, their possession, their pace, their athleticism just wore us down, wore us down. And in order to be able to compete with them in a couple weeks or later in the season, we’re going to have to do a lot of things differently.”

The Explorers didn’t ask many questions of goalkeeper Peyton Ellis and her back line who earned their fourth shutout of the season. Last year’s team set the record for most clean sheets in a season at 17.

Goals have been going in though for Marquette.

It opened the season with a 5-0 win over Mater Dei and a 2-0 win over Marion in the Metro Cup before a 1-1 tie with defending IHSA Class 1A state champs Columbia on Tuesday, March 24.

“It’s a hard schedule, but that’s what the program does and it’s not going to get any easier,” Hoener said. “So, we’ve just got to find ways to keep showing up to practice and working and getting better. These are the types of teams you’re going to go through in order to get anywhere in the post season, so, you’ve got to put them on the schedule.”

“We feel like if you handle it the right way and compete the entire 80 minutes, regardless of the result, you’re coming out better,” Hoener continued. “Today, we learned some things we need to work on at practice and that’s beneficial for us.”

McGivney picked up its second straight away conference victory, something that Turkington is keen on.

“On the road, anywhere is tough. On the road conference, another level,” he said. “And playing against Alton Marquette here, it’s a good staff, it’s a good squad. We’re very pleased with the outcome for sure.”

The Griffins are now 4-1 on the year, their only blemish a 4-1 loss to Springfield, a team that finished 26-2-1 last season, took third in the IHSA Class 2A state tournament, and only lost two starters from that team.

McGivney plays other traditional 2A toughies like Chatham Glenwood and Triad later in the season as well as some big 3A schools like O’Fallon and Edwardsville.

Marquette’s schedule is just as tough, a highlight being an April 29^th meeting with Class 1A powerhouse Quincy Notre Dame, the team that’s ended their past two seasons.

The Griffins and Explorers play again in Glen Carbon on Tuesday, April 7 at 6 p.m.

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