Marquette Catholic's Stephen Hasse looks upfield towards Luke Atkinson during the second half of senior night against Freeburg at Gordon Moore Park on Thursday night.

ALTON - Scoring opportunities came early and often for the Marquette Catholic Explorers. Most wouldn’t find the back of the net.

Get The Latest News!

Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.

Ultimately, the Explorers bagged enough to pick up another win and stay undefeated against the Freeburg Midgets during senior night on Thursday night at Gordon Moore Park in Alton.

Marquette goes to 9-0-3 while Freeburg drops to 6-7-2 snapping a three-game losing streak.

“We had a lot of shots on goal, and a lot off frame,” Marquette head coach Joe Burchett said. “Chris [Hartrich] had three [shots] run right next to that [far] post [in the second half]. It just wasn’t going in.

Burchett also gave praise to Freeburg’s goalkeeper, Dalton Fortier who made a variety of close and long-range saves.

“[Fortier] came out large and made good saves. He kept them in the game most certainly,” Burchett said.

After a couple of scoring chances within the first ten minutes, Hartrich collected an excellent through ball from Stephen Hasse, which put him 1-on-1 with Fortier. The senior star striker calmly tucked his shot away to put Marquette up 1-0 with 28:19 to go in the first half.

The Explorers proceded to pour on waves of pressure against the Midgets, but couldn’t find another goal in the remainder of the first half. Half was due to Freeburg’s defenders being resolute by blocking shots and cutting out passes in critical areas. The other half was Marquette simply shooting off target or Fortier making saves.

Article continues after sponsor message

Although they had limited possession in Marquette’s half of the field, Freeburg managed to get one golden opportunity to equalize in the match, which came with just over seven minutes left in the first half. The Midgets attempted a corner kick and was not properly cleared away. A cross came in, was mis-hit by a defender and a Freeburg striker had a clear close-range shot at goal, but the ever impressive Nick Hemann parried the ball away for another corner kick.

Hemann, who was arguably the best player Tuesday night against Edwardsville, was called into action just once tonight but did his job accordingly.

“You can see him out there getting flustered because we hadn’t scored the goal yet. We were pounding and pounding and pounding, and then you make one little boo-boo, and they’re in the game,” Burchett said. “Nick’s very competitive, and I like that about him.”

The insurance goals did come in the second half.

Trenton Dietiker got on the end of a corner kick from Hasse, which he headed at Fortier’s legs, but bounced right back him. Atkinson got the rebound slotted it through Fortier’s legs to put Marquette up 2-0 with 27:54 left in the game.

Hasse got his third assist of the game via another corner kick eight minutes later. Luke Atkinson awaited at the far post and headed the ball perfectly into the top right-hand corner of the net.

More like this:

Mar 17, 2024 - St. Louis City Gets A Point In Six-Goal Thriller In LA

Mar 18, 2024 - Weekend Girls Soccer Round-Up: McGivney Beats Alton, Marquette Picks Up First Win

Nov 25, 2023 - Kline Leads Marquette With 25 Points: Explorers Slip Past Freeburg 61-58 In Roxana Tourney

3 days ago - City Salvage A Draw In Frustrating Game Against DC United

Mar 13, 2024 - Roulanaitis Holds Tigers To Two Hits, Strikes Out 10 - Freeburg Wins Season Opener Over Edwardsville 3-1