ADAMS TWP — The seniors on the Mars boys lacrosse team won't score many goals.

They aren't going to teach the freshmen and sophomores much about the game, either. But there was something senior Ethan Lewis thought they could bring to the Planets.

When the Mars program started varsity play last season, Lewis talked to some of his old basketball teammates about joining the team.

“My little brother has been playing since third grade, so I thought I'd pick it up,” said Lewis, who has won 19 faceoffs. “I knew we'd have some size difficulties, having a team of all freshman and sophomores, so I thought I'd grab a few of my buddies and play.”

The seniors — Lewis, Dane Zortman, Charles Frye, Ryan Horan and Austin Fetsko — have served primarily defensive roles for the Planets, who have only lost one section game in two seasons. Mars is 7-3 so far this season, including a perfect 4-0 mark in Division II-Section 3.

As a group, the seniors have only attempted two shots and haven't scored any goals.

Mars coach Justin Karam said the group's basketball experience allowed him to find them playing time.

“We had guys from a lacrosse standpoint that didn't understand slides coming from the youth as far as if someone gets beat, who goes,” Karam said. “The basketball guys understood that and they were athletic, so we found a role for them right away.”

The Planets finished 7-7 last season, making the WPIAL playoffs and finishing second in the section.

Zortman, who was all-section last season, feels his basketball experience made the transition easier.

“I played basketball for eight years,” said Zortman, who has 26 groundballs this season. “Playing defense in lacrosse wasn't that different. A lot of the slides translated to lacrosse.”

Offensively, Mars is carried by the underclassmen. Sophomores Blake Thompson (21 goals) and Zac Sicher (20) have scored a majority of the goals.

Lewis is the only senior to have attempted a shot. Horan credited the underclassmen for the team's success, but said it's unique learning from the younger kids.

“It's different, I've never had to do it before,” Horan said. “They obviously have a lot more experience than we do. We learn a lot of stuff from them.”

Frye, who has recorded 25 groundballs, got a little bit of a jump-start on his classmates. He played during the fall his junior year to pick up some of the necessary skills.

He didn't find the adjustments too difficult.

“The defense was literally the exact same thing, coming from basketball to lacrosse, you didn't have to learn much on defense,” Frye said. “You knew the slides and you knew everything pretty much.”

Fetsko's excited to be part of another winning program.

“It's really exciting, basketball is really successful and I wanted to take that into lacrosse,” Fetsko said. “A lot of sports at Mars are successful, it's nice to see lacrosse come in and have that success.”