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ALTON – When it comes to field hockey in the St. Louis area, Marquette Catholic and Edwardsville have something in common.
They're the only two field hockey-playing schools on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River.
The two schools met on the field at Alton's Gordon Moore Park Monday afternoon, with the Tigers getting a pair of goals from Maren McSparin en route to a 5-0 win over the Explorers. EHS, coming off a loss to Kirkwood Friday, went to 1-1 on the year; Marquette fell to 0-3 on the season.
“I think we came out the door a lot stronger,” said new Tiger coach Jaimee Phegley. “In the first half of the Kirkwood game, it took us a little bit to get our passes connected and today, we used both sides of our field.; the right side of the field was ignored on Friday and today, we really used both sides and that's why we saw forwards score from both ends.
“That's going to be important for us as we go through the next four games this week.”
While Edwardsville is a well-established program, the Explorers are in their third year of competition; new Explorer coach Carol Eckhoff realizes there's much to be done to establish the program. “They're really doing very, very well,” Eckhoff said. “They're learning well, they're progressing every time they play; the biggest thing is they're having fun.
“We're going to and do best we can to build the program.”
McSparin's two goals in the first 15 minutes of the match was a good lift for EHS. “That's great for Maren,” Phegley said. “She has actually been playing a mid (field) position, which is something that isn't as comfortable for her even though she's been doing a great job.”
“We did play well, Eckhoff said. “Regardless, at the end of the day, the score doesn't matter, that you gave it your all and you tried the best you can – that's what matters.”
That the two schools are on the same side of the area, rather than both schools having to travel to the Missouri side of the Mississippi to play some of their matches, makes things much easier for both teams. “That 19-minute drive here today was awesome,” Phegley said. “We're trying to build a relationship with them; it's wonderful to see more people on our side of the river and I hope we can continue to add to it.”
McSparin's goals came at the 3:58 and 14:25 marks of the game, with both shots beating Explorer goaltender Katelyn Fitzgerald. Allie Hosto scored from the left corner of the shooting zone for the Tigers at 21:41, while Sophia Swalley extended the lead to 4-0 with a goal at 28:06. The final EHS goal came in a light but steady shower in the second half when Rachel Goebel put a shot past Fitzgerald at 42:30. Anna Farar recorded the shutout for the Tigers in the win.
Marquette continues a season-opening home stand at 4:15 p.m. today against Notre Dame of St. Louis, while the Tigers travel to Visitation in St. Louis County for a 4 p.m. Wednesday contest.
