Metal Leads To Medals
MOON TWP — Alaina Metal would have waited another eight minutes if that's how long the Mars' girls lacrosse team needed to score its first goal.
The senior goalie had things under control throughout the first half of the WPIAL Class 2A championship game Wednesday night at Joe Walton Stadium.
Zoey Krock provided Metal with some relief when she scored the Planets' first goal 7 minutes, 25 seconds in.
“I wouldn't have minded as long as we were scoring,” Metal said. “It's a scary situation because whoever gets the first goal sets the tone for the game. Scoring first gives you that kind of push. That's normally what I like to see because it gives us that extra confidence.”
Metal didn't concede a goal for the first 18 minutes, 10 seconds of the first half to help the Planets win their first WPIAL crown with an 10-3 victory over previously undefeated Blackhawk.
Mars (16-2) will make its first appearance in the PIAA playoffs when it takes on the District 10 champion Conneaut June 2 at a site and time to be determined.
First-year Mars coach Monica Ewansik was thrilled with Metal's performance. Metal made nine saves for the Planets.
“This was her season,” Ewansik said. “She came out like I've never seen a goalie come out in my life. In previous years, she was little Alaina in the back of the net. She didn't know what she was doing. This year, she was like a new player. We've relied on her so much. Without her, our defense wouldn't be what they are.”Cougars coach Mike DeJesus believed Blackhawk was too tentative at times. Blackhawk's reticence allowed Mars to generate three times as many shots in the first half.“Our biggest thing was we didn't go to the cage,” Cougars Mike DeJesus said. “I think they had 10 or 12 shots to our four shots in the first half. We weren't going to the cage.”Mars freshman midfielder McKenna Merritt said the Planets were determined to slow down Blackhawk's attack.“We knew who their strong players are and knew they were ready to rumble,” said Merritt, who scored a team-high three goals. “We were ready to stop them.”Following Krock's goal, Mars wouldn't score again until 10 minutes later when Kellen Fletcher broke through on a long run.Ryleigh McKnight got Blackhawk (15-1) on the board with 6:50 left before halftime when she snuck behind the Mars defense and fired a shot over Metal's shoulder from five yards out.The Planets then closed the first half with a flurry. Grace Wu scored 14 seconds after McKnight to stretch the lead to 3-1.Merritt scored twice before the break and Mya Cote added one to put the Planets ahead 6-1.“They put everything we did in practice and implemented it on the field,” Ewansik said. “All the little details. We started out a little bit sloppy at the beginning of the season. Everything just reigned in and it all came to fruition on the field today.”Mars never had its lead seriously threatened after halftime. Blackhawk's Bailey Nicely scored to cut the lead to 6-2 with 19:41 remaining.The Planets snuffed the momentum quickly with excellent defense. After Fletcher, who scored twice, had a goal waved off for being in the crease, Merritt stole an outlet pass and scored for Mars.Krock scored her second goal 23 seconds later to extend the lead to 8-2.Metal was happy to celebrate the win. Mars had started a group chat among the team at about 7:30 a.m. on gameday and kept the chatter going all day.“We had the mentality we are winning this,” Metal said. “This is what we've worked so hard for the entire season. We were telling ourselves to win this, we had to work for it. We had to give it our all.”
