Chasing The 3-peat
WEXFORD — Anthony Grieco scored his 200th career goal — setting a Mars record for most career goals in the process — as the Planets scored early and often en route to a 20-5 semifinal victory over the Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic Trojans Wednesday night at North Allegheny's Newman Stadium.
The victory puts the Planets in the WPIAL Championship Game for the third straight season. Mars has won the championship the past two campaignss.
“This one is pretty sweet,” Mars coach Bob Marcoux said. “We don't take anything for granted. The WPIAL thing is pretty special.”
Grieco started the barrage of goals for Mars by scoring two goals within eight seconds of each other just over a minute into the game.
Freshman Pierce Khoury answered for the Trojans, cutting the lead to 2-1, but that was as close as North Catholic would get. The Planets scored the next 11 goals to take a commanding 13-1 lead midway through the second quarter.
Grieco and Michael Doyle were dominant for the Planets in the first half, as they scored four and five goals, respectively, in the half. Mars took a 16-2 lead into halftime.
“These guys have been awesome all year,” Marcoux said of Grieco and Doyle. “They came out ready to play tonight and just took advantage of their opportunities.”
Cade Hetzler chipped in with four assists for the Planets, and Khoury scored three goals for the Trojans.
“Pierce is a fantastic freshman,” North Catholic head coach Don Bryant said. “He is a special talent and I am looking forward to him being a leader next year.”
Even though it didn't win the game, Bryant is pleased with his team's season.
“We didn't come up short,” Bryant said. “We may not have won tonight, but there are about 30 other teams that would have loved to be playing tonight.”
Mars will now face Hampton in the WPIAL Class 2A Championship Game on Friday at Robert Morris University.
“Mars and Hampton have a rivalry in every sport,” Marcoux said. “They have some firepower that we are going to have to contend with, but we will be ready.”
