Repeating History
Up to this point, the Mars girls soccer season has had quite a bit in common with the 2011 squad.
The Planets are hoping to extend that similarity one more game.
When Mars meets Villa Joseph Marie in the Class 3A state championship game at 4 p.m. Saturday in Hershey, it will be a rematch of the two programs that decided the Class 2A title eight years ago. Mars won that game, 1-0, and finished the year with a 25-0-1 record. Its only blemish was a tie against Knoch during the regular season.
The current Planets sport a 21-0-1 record, tying Seneca Valley in September.
“I think a lot of it comes down to players' relationships. It's a special group,” Mars coach Blair Gerlach said of the common thread between his current squad and the one from 2011. “With both teams, there's the ability to execute the game plan.”
Gerlach has no shortage of respect for Villa Joseph Marie, which he referred to as “a juggernaut.”
The numbers back him up.
The Jems (21-2-1) are the defending state champions and will be playing in their sixth consecutive state final. The program has won 11 PIAA crowns, the last five coming under the direction of head coach Rich Finneyfrock, who has guided the team since 2004.
“When I took over, there was already a winning tradition in place here,” said Finneyfrock. “My job is just to not mess it up.
“We had a team banquet a few years ago and I apologized to the parents because we lost four games that year. It sounds silly, but the girls have become so conditioned to winning.”
Despite his program's heavily decorated history and recent run of dominance, the odds are against the Jems and Finneyfrock knows it.
Other than the 3-3 stalemate with Seneca Valley, Mars has not allowed multiple goals in any game this season. The Planets have outscored their seven playoff opponents 35-2.
Taylor Hamlett (40 goals), Ellie Coffield (29) and Caroline Wroblewski (21) lead Mars in scoring, but goals have come from many players.
“They are a great team and there's no denying they can score,” Finneyfrock said of the Planets. “We have to be considered the underdog. I hope we can give 'em a game.”
The Planets will be tested by a Jems defense that has yet to give up a goal in six playoff games, starting with the District 1 tournament. Villa's back line is led by Julia Beck and Jackie Levins.
Sophomore Morgan Murphy has had a strong season after helping VJM to last year's state title.
However the Jems attempt to defend Mars' potent and diverse attack, it won't be anything Gerlach and his players haven't seen.
“Some teams try to sit in on us,” he said. “Some have tried to play us straight-up while others have man-marked us. The girls have done a good job of finding the net against it all.”
Erin Rodgers and Gracie Dunaway lead Mars' defense in front of junior goalkeeper Courtney Lisman.
Though the Jems have not scored as many goals as Mars, they feature an attack that doesn't rely on just one or two players for clutch shots. Midfielders Katie Sullivan and Kennedy Kilchrist lead that group.
“It's spread out,” said Finneyfrock. “Some of our girls go after it a little more, but they can all put the ball in the net.”
