Marquette's Ellie Jacobs runs past Wood River's Asia Gleason in the Marquette regional semifinals.

Wood River goalie Lindzey Morrison watches a shot go wide of her goal.

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ALTON - The Marquette Explorers were all over the East Alton-Wood River Oilers coming out as 9-0 winners in the IHSA Class 1A Marquette Regional Semifinals at Gordon Moore Park on Tuesday afternoon.

“One of our keys is to get out to an early start,” Marquette coach Brian Hoener said. “We knew we’d have some possession, but if you don’t put the ball in the back of the net, then things start to get more challenging as the game progresses. It kinda played out the way we hoped it would.”

The Explorers scored seven of their nine goals in the first half.

Freshman phenom Emma Anselm netted the first two goals of the game inside the first 10 minutes to get the Explorers off to a quick 2-0 lead.

Marquette often tested Wood River keeper Lindzey Morrison and won just about every second ball off of goal kicks and clearances. On the few occasions the Oilers had chances to counter-attack, they were snubbed out by the Explorers skillful, alert center backs. That allowed the likes of Madelyn Smith, Lauren Walsh, Ellie Jacobs, and Anselm to boss possession in midfield.

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“We did a good job of limiting any chances for [Wood River] and not only just winning the ball in the back, but then putting the ball down and playing it out of the back to initiate the scoring opportunities,” Hoener said.

It was later 5-0 halfway through the first half. Lauren Walsh scored from an excellent long-range shot, and freshman Madelyn Smith dribbled past a handful of Oilers to get in on goal and slotted the ball past the keeper to complete a well done solo goal.

Kaya Theis and Sarah Harnetiaux made it onto the score sheet before the half ended.

“One thing that we like about our team is that the scoring doesn’t just come from one person. We have multiple people that can be dangerous,” Hoener said. “The more that you can have people produce, the better it is to defend, and that’s one thing I think we’re doing well with right now.”

Wood River’s season ends at 6-14-1.

Marquette’s record is now 13-7-2. They move onto the regional finals and will face Breese Central who defeated Father McGivney 4-1. The match will be played at Gordon Moore Park at 4 PM on Friday.

Ellie Jacobs cuts inside toward the 18-yard box.

Kiana Franklin dribbles across midfield.Steven Spencer also contributed to this story.

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