DORMONT — Mars had reached the WPIAL Class 3A girls soccer championship game six straight seasons. Prying a seventh consecutive appearance away from the Planets didn’t figure to be easy for South Fayette and it certainly was not Tuesday night.

After 110 minutes of scoreless soccer and three rounds of penalty kicks, the Lions finally left the field victorious in a district semifinal at Dormont Stadium.

After making 21 saves on the night, Mars goalie Kate McEnroe failed to stop a shot by South Fayette’s Mia Deramo, winning PKs for the Lions by a count of 3-2.

“Kate played a great game,” said Mars coach Blair Gerlach. “We felt confident that she could stop enough penalty kicks and we could score on three or four of our own, but it didn’t happen.”

Lily Wolf and Rosie Pellegrino found the net on their chances for Mars (16-1) to match successful boots from the Lions’ Alex Delaney and Anna Fraps. But South Fayette goalie Caitlyn Thompson, who needed to make just three saves in regulation and two overtimes, denied the Planets on four other shots while another sailed high of the net.

“Caitlyn was fantastic tonight,” South Fayette coach Nick Rosser said of his sophomore goalie. “We work on PKs every day in practice.”

Unlike the Lions (13-4-2), Mars struggled generating shots on goal for the vast majority of the game. Thompson was not called on to make her first save until she stopped a long-range attempt from the Planets in the 78th minute.

“South Fayette has a lot of speed all over the field,” Gerlach said. “When they subbed in, those players went just as hard.”

Possessions for Mars usually ended before they were able to challenge Thompson.

At the other end of the field, however, McEnroe was tested often, making a number of diving saves to keep the game scoreless.

“The pressure we applied, that’s what we do,” said Rosser. “We play in such a tough section, against Moon and Montour, we’ve been playing playoff-type soccer all year.”

While denied a chance to play for another WPIAL title, the Planets are not done. By reaching the semifinal round, they had already clinched a berth into the state playoffs. They will on Thursday face the loser of Tuesday’s other semifinal between Moon and Montour at a time and site to be determined to decide seeding for the PIAA tournament.