ALTON – McGivney Catholic is on the verge of something very special in the school's brief history.
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An IHSA regional boys soccer championship.
But to achieve that, the Griffins will have to get past Marquette Catholic in Friday's 4 p.m. final of the IHSA Class 1A Marquette Regional (see related story); they got to the final Wednesday night by eliminating East Alton-Wood River 3-1 at Gordon Moore Park to take their record to 13-9 on the season; the Oilers were eliminated at 10-12.
“They're (Marquette) a very good team; they beat us 7-2 (on Sept. 26),” said Griffin coach Tim Vance. “We're excited to get to play them again; we'll come up with a game plan and try to execute as best as we can.
“We're extremely excited about (the opportunity); we joke a lot over at McGivney with Ethan Jones and the state bass fishing championship (that Jones brought to McGivney in 2015) and we're looking to put in the first regional championship, so it's kind of a second battle at the school, but it (Jones' fishing title) was awesome, for sure.”
Oiler coach Mike Lawson felt missed opportunities at both ends of the field was a key difference. “The first (Griffin goal), you step front of your 18 (the top of the penalty area) and you defend,” Lawson said. “Their first goal was us not reacting quickly enough – we missed one early on to go up 1-0 just counterattacking, which is what we planned on.
“We missed one early in the second half in front of the goal alone to make it 2-1; instead they come down with the next shot and make it 3-0 – that's soccer for you though. We could have the same game tomorrow and we could win; it is what it is with soccer. Tim does a great job there – he was a great player, he teaches the boys how to play soccer properly.”
McGivney grabbed the lead in the 18th minute under warm, somewhat humid conditions after rain had rolled through the area during the early match between Marquette and Metro East Lutheran when Nate Dammerich got ahold of a feed and fired a bomb past Oiler goalkeeper D.J. Redden's outstretched hands to put the Griffins up 1-0, then extended the lead to 2-0 on a Jonah Mitan penalty kick in the 32nd minute. Not long after, conditions took a sudden turn when a suddenly stiff breeze brought equally sudden chilly temperatures to the field.
Undaunted, the Oilers nearly cut the Griffin lead to 2-1 on a great opportunity in front, but McGivney countered off the Jackson Podshadley save and saw Dammerich get possession and fire a laser past Redden to up the Griffin lead to 3-0. The Oilers kept attacking and finally put one past Podshadley in the 71st minute, Ethan Moore scoring from a Ashtin Murray assist.
Vance realizes the Explorers will pose several challenges for them in Friday's final.
“They'll be very dynamic; they probably have three or four excellent attacking players that we know about because we just played them,” Vance said. “They're solid all around; they have a great goalkeeper – it'll be a tough match, for sure.”
