AMBRIDGE — Center had only had one opportunity in its WPIAL Class AA boys soccer playoff game against Mars Tuesday.

Oddly enough, that's all it needed.

The Trojans' Ryan Prosper scored in front of the net off a pass from Zach Taylor with 11:02 left in the first half and the team made it stand in a 1-0 victory at Moe Rubenstein Stadium.

Mars goalie Joe Haefner had just one save in the game, that coming in the second half.

"We did not have a lot of chances, but we have a lot of speed," said Center coach Mark Perry. "Mars is a very good team and they come with a lot of players on the attack.

"We're strong on defense, but we had a little lead. If you watched the game, you wouldn't have thought we won, but we hung on for 80 minutes,"Perry added.

"We knew they had a fast team and had a strong defense," said Mars coach Chris Knauff. "I thought we had opportunities."

The win sent Center (19-3) into Saturday's championship final while Mars (17-3-1) will play the Steel Valley-South Park loser at 8 p.m. Thursday at Shaler in a consolation final. The winner of that game will earn the third PIAAplayoff berth out of the WPIAL.

Mars dominated play throughout the first half and had a pair of chances almost midway through the first half, but both shots were above the crossbar.

The Trojans were able to mount their first scoring chance when Taylor, who was to the left of the goal, centered a pass to Prosper, who fired a shot from 15 yards away to account for the game's only goal.

"It's nice to have that goal and the lead," said Perry. "It put pressure on the other team."

"It certainly puts more pressure on the team, but I thought they handled it well," said Knauff. "We were just unlucky.

"I told them at the break that they've played well. If they continued what they were doing, they'd get on the board, but we didn't (score),"Knauff added.

Mars almost tied the game when Drew Glavin had a header in front 6:10 into the second half, but the shot went wide. The Planets also had a pair of shots hit the post and harmlessly roll away, the second one coming with 20:52 remaining.

The Planets now turn their attention to Thursday's consolation, when a state playoff berth will be on the line.

Knauff doesn't believe there will be a letdown from his team.

"It'll be difficult, but I'll reiterate this game was an unlucky result and that they'll do well at states."

Notes: Center goalkeeper Rob Scala made eight saves. ... The Trojans have won all three of their playoff games via shutout, including a 3-0 win over Ambridge and a 1-0 shootout win over Hampton.