AMBRIDGE — Falling behind is not something the Mars or Beaver boys soccer teams have done much this season.

So, in Wednesday's WPIAL Class AA quarterfinal, one of them was going to be put in an unfamiliar position — and it could result in a season-ending loss.

When Beaver's Justin Turnley buried a hard grounder past Mars goalie Joe Haefner with 20 minutes, 31 seconds left in the first half, it helped to propel the Bobcats to a 2-0 victory at Ambridge High School.

The loss ended the Planets' season with a 17-2 record while the Bobcats (19-2-1) have reached the semifinals and clinched a state playoff berth.

"Definitely, we are not a team that likes to come from behind," said Beaver coach Sig. Brauch. "Our motto is 'Strike First. Strike Hard. No Mercy.' Once we scored the first goal, we knew we had to keep it going."

"We knew it would be tough to come back," said Mars coach Blair Gerlach. "We've only been down one time before.

"I told the kids (at the half) if you want to be in the state playoffs, you have to come back from 1-0. You have to earn it. We found a way to tighten things, but then they scored again,"Gerlach added.

When David Buckenheimer scored just 2:27 into the second half, the Bobcats (19-2-1) doubled their lead and were not about to give it up.

"Buckenheimer is our engine. Everything revolves around him," said Brauch.

Still Brauch was very concerned about the Planets.

"The danger we had was too many fouls in the midfield," said Brauch. "That's a very talented Mars program. They'd get the ball in there and that occurred several times.

"Then, we got that second goal, then it was nice. If the other side scores, it's a new game," he added.

Gerlach, who coached Beaver's camp over the summer and is familiar with the players, knew the Bobcats were a counterattacking team.

"I knew they were experienced," said Gerlach. "We lost to a better team today. If we played again, we could play better, but I don't know if the outcome would have been different."

The Planets had a chance to cut the deficit in half one minute after the Bobcats' second goal when Robert McKinney took a cross pass, but his shot was just wide to the right.

"I'm proud of these guys," said Gerlach. "It's a stage in the playoffs. You have to let these kids step up. Some stepped up, some didn't. We'll work hard and we'll be back."

Notes: Haefner finished with 12 saves while Bobcats goalie Chris Lloyd had three. Both are sophomores.