PITTSBURGH — About the only thing Mars goalie Tyler Stepke didn't do Tuesday night was stand on his head and make a save.

The sophomore made 26 saves as the Planets claimed their first Penguins Cup title with a 3-2 victory over Bishop McCort in Class A action at Mellon Arena.

Stepke's final two stops came when the Crushers, with six skaters on the ice after pulling goalie Jim Stenger, won two straight faceoffs to the left of the Mars goal with under 10 seconds left in the game.

They fired two straight desperation shots toward Stepke, who covered up both attempts.

On the last faceoff with six seconds to go, the puck slid to the boards behind the net as time expired.

"It came down to a couple of bounces at the end," said Bishop McCort assistant coach John Bradley. "We got the puck to the net, but it didn't go in."

The Planets (23-1) will face Bayard Rustin (22-2) in the Class A state championship game at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Ice Line in West Chester.

Stepke played junior varsity last year.

"We split time between Tyler and Marty (Lamneck) during the regular season," said Planets coach Steve Meyers. "They both played well, but we decided to go with Tyler for the playoffs. He was awesome tonight."

Unlike some young players, Stepke didn't succumb to nerves in a big game.

"Those last few saves there, they were easy ones," he said. "All I had to do was make the stop and cover up."

With the game tied at 1 in the third period, the Planets grabbed the lead when Brady Sipe took a pass from Tyler Whiteford and beat Stenger with a wrist shot with 9:11 left.

Mars added to its advantage less than five minutes later as Derek Sitterly and Matt Wingert assisted on Andrew Santa's goal for a 3-1 lead.

The Crushers (17-5-2) pulled to within one goal when Dane Domonkos got his stick on a rebound and found the net, stopping the clock at 2:56.

But with Stepke's late saves, the Planets were able to lift the Penguins Cup one year after losing the title game.

"We just came out and did what we needed to do," Stepke said. "Being the first team in Mars history to win the Penguins Cup, that's pretty special."

Mars got on the board first with a power-play goal from Mike Mazzotta, who blistered a slap shot from just inside the blue line 4:30 into the first period.

Sitterly and Jake Robash were credited with assists on the play.

The Planets dominated play early in the second period before Bishop McCort's Matt Holtz found the net after a battle for the puck in front of Stepke.

Mars then took two penalties, which gave the Crushers a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:19, during which Stepke saved all five shots he faced.

"We tried to stop their flow in the middle of the zone," said Meyers. "But we struggled a bit in the second period and the penalties gave us some trouble."

Stenger made 25 saves for Bishop McCort.

The Planets, who have had three head coaches this season, have never wavered and will take a 19-game winning streak into Saturday's state final.

"Last year is in the past," said Meyers. 'This team has its own personality and it was their time."