BETHALTO – The Marquette Catholic High School girls soccer team defeated the Civic Memorial Eagles 3-2 Monday night (April 11) to improve their record to 6-2-2. It makes it their second win in a row since the big 7-0 loss against Alton one week ago.
The Explorers got started early. 10 minutes into the game junior midfielder Caroline Stephan netted the first goal for Marquette. Not even a minute later, freshman forward Ella Anselm doubled the lead to make it 2-0.
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The Eagles didn’t give up. They battled back and that’s something Marquette head coach Brian Hoener gave them credit for.
“Hats off. 2-0 early like that, they could have put their head down and said, ‘hey today just isn’t our day’ but the coaches are too good over here to let that happen and I thought they battled and found themselves right back in the game,” Hoener said.
The red-hot sophomore forward Abrianna Garrett scored in the 23rd minute and again in the 26th to tie the game at 2-all. Her goals were assisted by freshman midfielder Brooke Harris and senior midfielder Mady Zhung.
The score was 2-2 heading into the halftime break with everything to play for in the second half.
Unfortunately for the Eagles, the comeback was cut short.
In the 61st minute, Anselm scored her second of the game as she headed the ball into the back of the net off of a cross to make it the eventual final score of 3-2. She now leads her team with nine goals on the season.
“That’s a big play from her [Anselm] to put us up,” Hoener said about the game-winning goal.
The deficit could have been a lot worse if it wasn’t for some terrific second-half saves from CM’s senior goalkeeper Kaylyn Aiello. She recorded 13 saves on the day to give her Eagles a fighting chance.
“You have to tip your cap to their goalkeeper. I thought she played fantastic and kept them in the game going down the stretch,” Hoener said.
After the loss against Alton, coach Hoener said his team had to have a short memory because they played the next day. They beat Roxana 3-0 not even 24 hours later and then beat CM to make it two in a row, something he was happy about.
“We got beat by a good Alton team and I think we’ve found some responses since then.”
As for the Eagles, this marks their second loss in a row and comes after a 9-0 setback against undefeated Triad, but CM head coach Eric Zyung remains level-headed.
“I was very proud that they fought back. Garret put two in the back of the net, and we were back in it,” Zyung said.
He had previously mentioned that the nerves of his rather young team get the best of them sometimes, but he says they are “getting better every day.”
After the goal in the 61st minute, the Eagles still gave it their all to try and tie things back up.
“These girls play to the final whistle and that’s all you can ever ask for,” Zyung finished with.
The Eagles will look to bounce back this afternoon when they play at Father McGivney (7-4) with kick-off set for 4:30 p.m.
Marquette will try to make it three in a row against Althoff (9-4-1) on Thursday, April 14. That game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
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