GODFREY – The Father McGivney Catholic High School boys soccer program did not have good memories playing Marquette Catholic in its early years.
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McGivney went 11 games without a win against the Explorers from 2015 to 2023.
But the tides are turning.
The Griffins have now won the last four meetings after a 3-0 win on a hot and sunny September Thursday afternoon at Glazebrook Park.
McGivney improves to 4-3 on the season and 1-1 in the Gateway Metro Conference, snapping a three-game losing streak.
“Good showing from the boys. That’s what we like to see,” Griffins’ head coach Brett Schubert said. “We talked about it at practice, just not to be discouraged. Those are a lot of big schools, going through the gauntlet of 2A, 3A schools, and then we come back down to 1A, and we take it to them.”
That’s what McGivney did from the get-go, thanks to an early lead just five minutes into the game.
After a foul right outside of the 18-yard box, Tucker Sundberg whipped in a cross that resembled a well-placed corner kick, straight across the goal line. After getting through everybody, the ball wound up at the feet of Liam Schmidt, who put it in at the back post to make it 1-0.
The Explorers wouldn’t go without chances of their own, but most were tame and controlled by McGivney goalkeeper Patrick Gierer.
In the 31st minute, McGivney caught a break by winning a penalty kick. After some controversy over what the actual call was, the center official stuck by his call and up stepped Will Rakers to take the spot kick. He rocketed his shot into the lower left corner to double the lead before halftime. It was his fourth goal of the season, which currently leads the team.
“The call is made; you just have to play with it,” Marquette head coach Brian Hoener said about the penalty decision. “Whether it was the right call or wrong call, that’s the way sports go. I thought it was unfortunate because it changed the dynamic of the game a bit for us. It forced us to chase a little bit more.”
“Anytime you get a penalty kick, there is a big momentum shift available,” Schubert said. “Obviously, for the team who scores it, or if the other team saves it and gains momentum. But it was good for Will to go in there and bury that. That’s what the team needed, and I think that allowed us to exhale a little bit.”
McGivney made it 3-0 in the 56th minute from a long throw-in. Owen Weissert was credited with the assist. The throw rang off the crossbar before Dedrick Amoussou rose to meet the ball in the air and deflect a headed effort into the net.
During their three-game losing streak to teams such as Waterloo, Triad, and Althoff, the Griffins were held scoreless. The floodgates reopened Thursday.
“It had been a few games, but in practice, they were hungry to put the ball in the back of the net,” Schubert said. “We came here today and executed what we did in practice, which is finding the net at any costs; it may not be pretty.”
The Explorers, meanwhile, fall to 6-3 on the year and 0-2 in the GMC. Marquette has never lost its first two conference games since the GMC’s inception in 2021.
“Our conference, when you’re looking at Father McGivney, Maryville Christian, and Althoff, we’re going to get challenged a lot this season, and that’s what we like,” Hoener said. “We learned a little bit about ourselves that game [referring to a recent 1-0 loss at Maryville Christian], we learned a little bit about ourselves today, so we’ve just got to apply some of that moving forward for the rest of the season.”
Both teams will be back in action on Saturday, September 13. McGivney hosts Highland at 10 a.m., and the Explorers will take on cross-town rivals Alton at 6:30 p.m. at Public School Stadium.
