Making their mark
JEFFERSON TWP — First-year Mars girls lacrosse coach Rich Schoeffel notices the improvement the Planets have made in their first month as a program.
During a 13-4 road win Tuesday over Division II-Section 3 rival Knoch, Mars' defense showed the biggest improvement.
When the Planets beat Knoch 13-11 March 28, the Knights' Emily Zilka scored five goals. In the rematch, the Planets shut her out.
“We played much better team defense,” first-year Mars coach Rich Schoeffel said. “We didn't try to stop anybody. Just everybody. We double-teamed in the midfield and when they got close to the goal.”
That solid defense has put Mars (5-3, 5-2) in a good position to earn a playoff bid. The Planets are in second place in the section and the top three teams make the playoffs.
“Staying solid in the midfield, we have a good transition being able to force turnovers and move it forward quickly,” Mars sophomore Shannon Doyle said. “We work hard and keep everything high-paced, but we can slow it down when we need to.”
Mars' offense didn't slow down much.
Knoch (4-7, 2-6) had no answers for Doyle and Bella Alampi. Doyle, who finished with three goals, went straight toward the net and put the Planets ahead 1-0 42 seconds in.
Alampi, who scored a game-high six goals, buried three in a 10-minute stretch in the first half to put Mars ahead 4-2 with 13:56 left before halftime.
“We find each other really well. We know where we'll be on the field,” Doyle said of her chemistry with Alampi. “She works around well, she drives forward. I'm always working off her and she's working off me.”
Elizabeth Butler and Tianna Wikert both scored twice for the Knights. After Wikert cut the lead to 3-2 with 14:50 left in the first half, Knoch didn't score again for nearly 25 minutes.
“I think the first half both teams had the same number of shots,” Knights coach Garett Butler said. “I give their goalie credit, but I don't think we were shooting well.”
Tori Kopchak (two), Kelly O'Connell and Cassy Buzzelli also scored goals for the Planets. O'Connell's goal with 4:41 left in the first half gave Mars a 6-2 halftime lead.
“We were working on spreading out more and cutting at the right times and looking for each other,” O'Connell said. “I think since the season is moving along we're working better as a team.”
Knoch cut the lead to 9-4 in the second half when Elizabeth Butler scored with 10:55 remaining. The Knights couldn't get any closer as Mars followed with two goals from Alampi and Kopchak to close the game.
“I've been telling my team that I've been looking forward to seeing them play a whole game,” Butler said. “I have five or six players out there who have never played before. I'm seeing them improve, but at the same time I'd like to see them gel a little faster.”
Mars is hoping to continue to see this kind of improvement as the Planets head through the second half of section play.
“Play better team defense, even though we're playing better than at the beginning of the year,” Schoeffel said. “Keep continuing to play better team defense, spread the ball around and get more people scoring besides the top three or four.”
