Mars attacks!
MOON TWP — Overwhelming its opponents became a theme for the Mars boys lacrosse team this spring.
Surely the Planets' latest contest — Friday's WPIAL Class AA championship game against a solid Quaker Valley squad — would be more closely contested.
It was not.
Mars scored seven goals in the first period and ran away with the district title with a 19-6 drubbing of the Quakers at Robert Morris University's Joe Walton Stadium.
It was the 13th game this season in which the Planets defeated their opponent by a double-digit margin.
When asked if he expected his team to win in such a dominating fashion, Mars coach Bob Marcoux quickly answered, “Not at all. We have a lot of respect for them and expected a close game. We just played really well tonight.”
Senior midfielder Ben Lewis got the Planets on the board just 57 seconds into the game. He was one of five Planets to score in the opening period, with junior attackman Anthony Grieco scoring three times.
The Quakers were unable to threaten Mars' net and goalie Jack Austin for most of the first half. Their lone goal in that span came from Connor Mangan with 7:54 left in the first quarter. They managed just one other shot in the first 24 minutes of play and trailed 11-1 at halftime.
“We had some unforced errors early on and it can be tough to recover from that,” said Quaker coach Chip Hansen. “We have a young team and had some jitters here and there and sometimes that snowballs.”
“We watched film on Quaker Valley and had a pretty good idea of what they were going to do,” said Marcoux. “Plus, our defensive guys played really well.”
That group, led by starters Joe Crognale, Nate Smith and Kyle Anderson, did not allow Quaker Valley (13-3) to penetrate the attack zone and nearly all of the team's offensive opportunities in the first half ended with a turnover.
“Across the field, we were a balanced team,” said Grieco, who led Mars with five goals in the game. “We limited the turnovers and everyone was just giving it their all.”
Quaker Valley's Devin Sye and Geoff Magin both scored a goal in a span of one minute, nine seconds of the third period during which the Quakers were playing with a man-advantage following a penalty on Mars.
The scores cut Mars' lead to 12-3, but once the Planets returned to even-strength, Nick Dinderman, Luke Miller and Hayden Vasbinder scored three straight goals for Mars and the mercy clock was in effect.
Junior attackmen Cade Hetzler and Brendan Moyer contributed three goals and three assists, respectively. Austin made four saves in the victory. His counterpart, Quaker Valley's John Auth, stopped six shots.
The Planets (19-2), in just their fifth season of existence, have now won two straight WPIAL titles. But they will be making their first appearance in the state playoffs when they face District 10 champion Cathedral Prep at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at North Allegheny's Newman Stadium.
The Planets will need to turn their deserved celebration into preparation rather quickly.
Said senior midfielder Joe Horvat, “We've been practicing all season and I think we'll be ready.”
“Winning the WPIAL is definitely a stepping stone, but our final goal is to win a state championship,” Grieco added. “We never view ourselves as the underdog.”
