Keep 'em coming
ADAMS TWP — At times. Montour goalkeeper Ashley Vith was under siege, making leaping and lunging saves.
But Mars kept coming.
“Coach (Blair) Gerlach preaches us to be patient,” senior midfielder Ellie Coffield. “Just keep going until we find the net.”
The Planets found it four times in the second half in polishing off a 6-0 victory over the Spartans in their WPIAL Class 3A girls soccer semifinal Wednesday night at the Mars Athletic Complex.
Mars (15-0) will face Plum — a 1-0 winner over West Allegheny — for the district championship at noon Saturday at North Allegheny's Newman Stadium. The game is a rematch of last year's final.
“We respect that program a lot and we'll respect that team again this Saturday,” Gerlach said. “Then we'll go at it and see what happens.”
Mars is unbeaten in 38 games over the past two seasons and will be playing in its fourth consecutive WPIAL championship game, ninth in 14 years under Gerlach.
The Planets have outscored their opposition 98-5 this season, including 25-0 in three playoff games. They defeated Montour 10-1 and 7-1 during the regular season.
“They gave us a different look this time,” Gerlach said. “They were more defensive, trying to keep us from attacking on the outside.
“They tried counter-attacking and got a couple of pretty good looks that way in the first half.”
Neither resulted in a shot on net, however. Montour (10-7) never did a get a shot on goal against Mars senior netminder Courtney Lisman.
The Spartans did not register a shot on net until Eliana Davin drilled a free kick from 30 yards out that backup keeper Megan Boddy stopped with 13:50 remaining. Boddy made a lunging save on another Davin shot less than a minute later.
“We takepride in not giving up goals as a team,” Coffield said. “Megan made a couple of nice stops there.”
By the time she did, the Planets had the game well in hand.
Sophomore midfielder Ava Lewis — starting for an absent teammate — headed a ball into the net off a corner kick play in the sixth minute to get Mars on the board. Senior forward Caroline Wroblewski scored the Planets' second goal from deep in the left corner of the pitch.
The shot got past a defender and was misplayed by Vith in the 17th minute.
“Once we score early, we can settle into our game a little bit more,” Coffield said. “The other team can't pack it in quite as much.”
Lewis scored her second goal of the game — and seventh in three playoff games this year — on a header in the 58th minute. Less than two minutes before that goal, Coffield had made it 3-0 by finding a loose ball in the box and drilling it high into the left corner of the net.
“Ava was a starter for us in a few games as a freshman last year before she got hurt and missed our playoff run,” Gerlach said. “She's a nice player with a bright future.”
Lewis fractured her ankle against Hampton last season and has been coming off the bench most of this year.
“Those were the first two times I've scored on headers this year, I think,” Lewis said. “I get most of my goals by kicking the ball in.”
Sophomore Reese Dunaway scored Mars' final two goals, the first on a penalty kick from 12 yards out, the second off an assist from Aly Cooper that sent her in alone on the goalkeeper.
Mars had a 22-3 advantage in shots on net and an 8-5 edge in corner kicks.
