Packing a punch
ADAMS TWP — Defending WPIAL champion Mars averages more than 17 goals per game, has lost only two games all season and already owned a 20-6 victory over Knoch in the regular season.
Forget about all of that.
Mars did.
The Planets took their rematch with the Knights quite seriously Thursday night, scoring four goals in the first five minutes on their way to an 18-4 WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinal boys lacrosse victory at the Mars Athletic Complex.
“We wanted to get off to a good start, take no chances,” Mars junior attacker Cade Hetzler said. “This was win or go home.”
The Planets (17-2) had a 7-0 lead by the end of the first quarter while allowing Knoch (9-6) only one shot on net in the first 12 minutes.
The score was 14-0 before Lane Rodgers got the Knights on the board with 2:37 left in the half and Mars serving its lone penalty of the night.
Knoch took 12 penalties in the contest.
“Part of that was frustration,” Knights coach Nathan Barthlow admitted. “We have to handle our sticks better ... but we were frustrated.
“Mars is awfully good — an extremely talented team.”
Hetzler led the Planets with four goals Thursday, giving him 46 for the season. Anthony Grieco tallied three goals and leads the team with 49 on the campaign.
Ben Lewis had three goals and two assists — hiking his season totals to 39 and 17 — while Mike Doyle scored three times.
“I wish I could take credit for all of this, but I can't,” Mars coach Bob Marcoux said. “We have athletes and you can't coach athleticism. It's just there. The other big thing these boys have is experience. They've been playing together since third grade. They could find each other in the dark.”
Lewis agreed.
“We've been together so long, we just know where each other's gonna be,” Lewis said. “The score doesn't matter. We're still going to run our sets, still going to run our plays.”
Hayden Vasbinder scored a pair of goals for the Planets. Adding a tally each were Dan O'Connell, Andrew Moyer and Hunter Fetsko. Joe Horvat had three assists, hiking his team-leading total to 33 in that department.
Horvat has 25 goals on the year.
“This is our fifth year of varsity, our second senior class to come all the way through the program,” Marcoux said. “They did it right here. They began with an elementary program and built it from there.”
Rodgers had a goal and assist for Knoch while Ivan Stapchuck, Heath Erdos and Chase Mullen added goals. Mars had a 25-11 edge in shots on net.
Stapchuck led the Knights with 46 goals this spring. Mullen added 30.
“This was our first year in the playoffs and we got our first playoff win,” Barthlow said. “We definitely made some strides.”
Mars will face Hampton — a 10-5 winner over Chartiers Valley on Thursday — in the semifinals.
“We'll have to be on top of our game,” Lewis said. “They're a rival and they'll be ready for us.”
