CHAMBERSBURG — During the course of the season, the Mars boys lacrosse team has consistently followed a blueprint for success - the Planets jump out to a big lead early and physically dominate opposing teams into submission.

That’s not quite how things played out in Tuesday’s PIAA Class 2A semifinal playoff against Penncrest. The Lions punched back, forcing Mars to respond to adversity.

As it turned out, the Planets do that in impressive fashion as well.

They owned a 7-2 lead after Wesley Scurci scored with nine minutes, 28 seconds left in the second quarter.

The Lions, who had made a habit of misfiring on their shots up to that point, reeled off five goals in a span of 2:50 to tie the game.

“We knew their guys were streaky and very athletic,” said Mars coach Bob Marcoux. “They were very aggressive after winning faceoffs and were turning transitions into goals.”

But the Planets never did fall behind and scored nine of the game’s final 10 goals to claim a 16-8 victory at Chambersburg High School’s Trojan Stadium.

For the second straight season, Mars (22-1) will play for a state championship. It will face Marple Newtown, a 14-7 winner over Lampeter Strasburg, for the title at West Chester East High School at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

Penncrest’s run included single tallies from Jason Poole, Spencer Tyson and Brennan Kaut and Chas Katz found the net twice.

“Mars is used to attacking and we knew if we could put them on their heels, we could change the outlook of the game,” said Penncrest coach Wayne Matsinger.

The Lions did just that, but it didn’t last long.

Before the end of the first half, Mars received goals from Enzo Grieco and Scurci to take a 9-7 lead. Scurci’s goal came with just three seconds remaining before halftime.

“Those goals were absolutely huge,” Marcoux said. “It’s a game of momentum and we needed to get it back. Those scores calmed us down.”

“We got a little lost defensively in transition,” said Mars’ Austin Cote of the Lions’ rally, “but we picked it up after that.”

Katz scored less than a minute into the third quarter, but it was the Lions’ final goal of the game as the Planets clamped down on defense.

“We were very aggressive and Cole Yoshioka was the key to that,” Marcoux said. “He got his stick on a lot of balls in the air.”

Grieco scored once and Jack Dunham twice in the third quarter. The latter’s second marker was set up by Yoshioka, who forced a turnover in front of Mars goalie Jonathan Grieco.

Josh Seipp opened the fourth-period scoring by dodging two defenders and beating Penncrest’s Luke Pyle-Ballak with a one-handed shot.

The Lions (16-7) won the state crown in 2014, but saw their hopes of returning to the final slip away under the weight of an opponent that had regained complete control.

“We got killed on groundballs,” Matsinger said. “Credit Mars, they’re a great team.”

Cote and Grieco led the scoring for Mars with four goals apiece. Seipp, Scurci and Dunham each scored twice while Kyle McEwen and Jacob Caringola both had one goal.

Dunham added three assists.

Katz paced the Lions with three goals.

Jonathan Grieco stopped four shots for Mars and Pyle-Ballak made seven saves.

The Planets fell to Allentown Central Catholic in last year’s championship game.

Cote, a senior, said of getting back to the state final: “It feels great. To get another crack at it, it’s amazing.”