ADAMS TWP — There would be no sweet revenge for Plum on this night.

Mars' girls lacrosse team made sure of that.

The Planets scored the first five goals en route to crushing the Mustangs, 18-6, in a WPIAL Class AA first-round playoff in the second game of a doubleheader Monday at the Mars Athletic Complex.

In the first game, North Catholic advanced by outlasting Ellis School, 19-15.

In late March, Mars earned a 19-5 decision on the Mustangs' turf.

“I told our girls that you can't go into this game looking at that score from the first time we played,” said Mars coach Cara Dumont. “We knew that Plum would be hungry. Plus, that first game was the very first game of the season. We knew that they had progressed since then.”

Mars dealt a major blow to Plum's hopes of an upset early on as Mara Fuller (2), Gianna Buzzelli (2) and Peyton Edinger all scored in the first 10 minutes of the game.

The Mustangs answered with goals from Amari Bunch and Samantha Casile, but the Planets were soon back on the offensive, scoring six of the remaining seven goals in the first half, and led 11-3 at the break.

“We did really well in transition,” said Dumont. “We were able to swing the ball to the opposite side, changing the levels of the field on fast breaks.

Defensively, we were tough and stood tall.”

Freshman goalie Kailey Phillips stopped five shots for the Planets.

“She's started more than half of our games this season,” Dumont said. “She's mentally strong and I appreciate the fact that she's always positive.”

Plum's Danielle Taylor stopped 10 shots, but the Planets came at her in waves.

Senior midfielder Paige Seles paced Mars with seven goals. Buzzelli added four while Fuller (3) and Jaden Pasquinelli (2) scored multiple times.

“We're very strong on the attack,” said Seles. “Everybody's been working on getting the ball in the net and it's all about accuracy.”

Mars reached the district semifinals last season before falling to Hampton. Seles was a starter on that team.

“We had a lot of great players last year and got so close,” she said. “Our goal is to win the WPIAL and we've all been working hard to make it happen.”

Mars (10-5) will face Seton-LaSalle, which received a first-round bye, in a quarterfinal Wednesday at a site and time to be determined. The Rebels upended the Planets in a close game earlier this season.

“They have been playing great, but so have we,” said Dumont. “I'm excited and the girls are looking forward to it.”

North Catholic 19, Ellis School 15

It was a combination the Trojanettes are not used to relying on, but it proved very effective against the Tigers.

Midfielders Sara Virostek and Madison Thome and Jess Schad on the attack combined for 18 goals as North Catholic earned the first playoff win in program history.

“Sara is usually one of our main scorers, but two of our other top players were unable to go tonight and we needed somebody to step up,” said Trojanette coach Lexi Rzempoluch. “Madison and Jess were huge tonight.”

Virostek led the way with seven goals, Thome scored six times and Schad five.

“We had patience on offense,” said Rzempoluch. “We made the right cuts and made passes at the right time.”

As impressive as North's offense was, it was a stretch of defensive play that proved just as vital to the win.

The game was tied at 10 at halftime and the Trojanettes led 13-12 with 19:49 left in the game. Up to that point, Ellis' offense was nearly as potent as North's, with Katharine Ference scoring seven of her team-high eight goals.

But the Tigers went scoreless over the next 13 minutes. The Trojanettes scored four times in that span and never led by less than four goals in the final six minutes of the game.

“We found some key matchups and (Camryn Heitzenrater) was key for us on defense,” said Rzempoluch. “We corrected some of the mistakes that we made in the first half.”

North Catholic goalie Kinsey Sperling had nine saves and Sao Mai Nguyen eight for the Tigers.

North Catholic (10-6) will face Oakland Catholic in a quarterfinal Wednesday at a site and time to be determined.