ALTON – Cameron Golike scored twice in the first seven minutes of Wednesday’s IHSA Class 1A Alton (Marquette) Regional semifinal against Wesclin Senior High School as the Marquette Catholic Explorers cruised past the Warriors 8-0.
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TJ Elisaia and Maicol Gonzalez each found the back of the net twice. Parker Hough and Diego Lara each scored, while Eli Baggio, James Fischer, and William Waters each had an assist on the triumphant night.
Gonzalez and Elisaia each recorded an assist as well. Chase Kopp kept the shutout in goal, his seventh of the season, as Marquette improved to 13-8 on the season.
The second-seeded Explorers will host the third-seeded Maryville Christian Lions on Saturday, October 25, in the regional final. It will take place at Alton’s Public School Stadium at 11 a.m.
Marquette will be looking for its second regional title in the last three seasons. The Explorers made it to last year’s regional final but fell to top-seeded Columbia by a score of 2-1.
The Explorers last won a regional title in 2023, beating Lebanon 7-0. They’d advance to the sectional championship, where they fell, again, to top-ranked Columbia, this time by a score of 3-0.
Columbia went on to finish third at the IHSA Class 1A state tournament and is coming off a fourth-place finish in 2024.
Columbia searches for its seventh straight regional title on Friday, October 24, at 6 p.m. The once again top-seeded Eagles host fourth-seeded Freeburg. The winner of that game will play the winner between Marquette and Maryville Christian in the sectional semifinals.
Father McGivney hosts the sectional, with the semifinals being held on Tuesday, October 28. The sectional championship is scheduled for Saturday, November 1, at 6 p.m.
The Explorers aren’t looking that far ahead, however. They know they’ve got a tough task at hand with Maryville Christian in the regional.
The two teams split their regular-season meetings. The Lions beat Marquette for the first time in their program history back on September 4 by a score of 1-0. The Explorers later won 3-1 at Glazebrook Park on September 23.
It will be the 10th meeting between the two teams, the first, however, in the postseason.
