GLEN CARBON – For the third season in a row, the Marquette Catholic High School boys soccer program will end its season at the mercy of the Columbia Eagles.
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The two perennial soccer powerhouses met Tuesday night in the IHSA Class 1A Glen Carbon (Father McGivney) Sectional semifinals, and it saw the Eagles score six unanswered goals en route to a 6-1 win.
But the night couldn’t have started much better for the Explorers.
In just the seventh minute, freshman Parker Hough whipped in a cross that ended up being more of a shot as it sailed over Columbia keeper Eli Thebeau’s head at the back post to make it 1-0.
It was just the second goal allowed in the last six games for Columbia.
Although playing with a lead, Marquette head coach Brian Hoener knew his team looked out of sorts toward the end of the first half.
“I thought they were speeding us up and forcing us to pay faster than we’re comfortable playing,” Hoener said. “Their athleticism, their size, and pace were causing us problems. And even when we were up 1-0, I felt like we weren’t being who we’ve been for most of the season, and a large portion of that is because of how fast they’ve played.”
Columbia kept a furious pace in Tuesday's sectional semifinal. It led to a breakthrough with 3:28 left in the half when Wyatt Etherton scored to tie the game at 1-1.
Columbia ended the half strong and would open the second half even better.
Two minutes into the half, Jack Leitschuh chipped Marquette keeper Chase Kopp from a rather tight angle to give his team the lead.
Malone Hohman grabbed his team’s third as things went from bad to worse for Marquette. Kopp made the initial save but gave up the rebound that Hohman capitalized on. After the goal, Kopp was slow to get up. When he did, he gripped his left shoulder in immense pain and exited the game. He wouldn’t return.
“I still thought we were still in the game when it was 2-1, 3-1, but when you have to take out one of your field players and put him in goal, that’s a lot to ask for everybody involved,” Hoener said.
Unfortunately for the Explorers, they don’t have a go-to backup keeper. That meant defensive midfielder TJ Elisaia was tasked to put the gloves on and take over.
The Eagles took full advantage of that and scored twice more in the 73rd minute and again with 53 seconds left in the game.
“Playing at this stage of the tournament, you run up against teams that can cause you problems, and they caused us problems we didn’t have answers to tonight,” Hoener said.
In recent memory, the Explorers haven’t had the answers against Columbia. No one has.
Columbia beat Marquette 3-0 in the sectional championship two years ago. Last season, the Eagles won 2-1 after a penalty shootout in the regional championship.
The Eagles took third at state in 2023 and fourth in 2024.
But the last time the two teams played was encouraging. The Explorers hosted Columbia back on October 6. The teams were tied 1-1 at halftime, but a wild second half saw the Eagles go on to win 4-3.
Hoener knew his team could hang with Columbia, but knew that their late first-half goal in the sectional semifinal was devastating.
“We were just talking about that at the end of the game. At some point, late in the first half, we were just saying as coaches, we need to get to halftime and get some things figured out,” Hoener said.
Instead, Columbia tied and took all the momentum for the rest of the game.
“We completely got away from who we are,” Hoener said.
After winning its 19th regional title in program history, Marquette’s season ends at 14-9.
Columbia improves to 20-5-3 and advances to the sectional championship on Saturday, November 1, at 6 p.m. against Father McGivney.
