WPIAL boys lacrosse: Mars extends championship streak to 9 titles in win over South Fayette
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Mars boy lacrosse celebrates after scoring against South Fayette in the WPIAL Class 2A Boys Lacrosse Championship game Friday, May 23, 2025, at Upper St. Clair High School. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
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Mars' Luke Spreng (41) makes a save against South Fayette in the WPIAL Class 2A Boys Lacrosse Championship game Friday, May 23, 2025, at Upper St. Clair High School. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
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Mars' Blake Cote (20) races past South Fayette's Ryan Mey (26) for a shot on goal in the WPIAL Class 2A Boys Lacrosse Championship game Friday, May 23, 2025, at Upper St. Clair High School. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
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Mars' Grant Weaver (9) take a shot past South Fayette's goalie Travis Watkins (28) in the WPIAL Class 2A Boys Lacrosse Championship game Friday, May 23, 2025, at Upper St. Clair High School. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
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Mars' Ben Bowser (1) and Jack Mueller (2) celebrate after beating South Fayette in the WPIAL Class 2A Boys Lacrosse Championship game Friday, May 23, 2025, at Upper St. Clair High School. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
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Mars' student section hold up signs and cheer during the WPIAL Class 2A Boys Lacrosse Championship game Friday, May 23, 2025, at Upper St. Clair High School. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
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Mars' Jack Mueller (2) lifts up the trophy and celebrates with his team after beating South Fayette in the WPIAL Class 2A Boys Lacrosse Championship game Friday, May 23, 2025, at Upper St. Clair High School. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
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Mars players and coaches smile after beating South Fayette in the WPIAL Class 2A Boys Lacrosse Championship game Friday, May 23, 2025, at Upper St. Clair High School. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
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Mars captains Jack Mueller (2), Luke Spreng (41), Ben Bowser (1), Sean Brennan (19) and Ian Coulter (3) accept the trophy after beating South Fayette in the WPIAL Class 2A Boys Lacrosse Championship game Friday, May 23, 2025, at Upper St. Clair High School. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
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Mars boys (left) and girls (right) lacrosse teams celebrate their championship wins after the WPIAL Class 2A Boys Lacrosse Championship game Friday, May 23, 2025, at Upper St. Clair High School. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
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Mars' captains, from left, Jack Mueller (2), Luke Spreng (41), Ben Bowser (1), Sean Brennan (19) and Ian Coulter (3) pose with the trophy after beating South Fayette in the WPIAL Class 2A Boys Lacrosse Championship game Friday, May 23, 2025, at Upper St. Clair High School. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
UPPER ST. CLAIR — Nine and counting.
But this one didn’t come easy.
Junior midfielder Grant Weaver scored three goals, and Mars held off a furious South Fayette rally to claim a 7-5 victory in the WPIAL Class 2A boys lacrosse championship game Friday night at Upper St. Clair High School.
The Planets (18-2) entered the game as the No. 2 seed and knocked off the unbeaten and top-seeded Lions (19-1).
“This is the first one out of the nine that we weren’t the No. 1 seed, the top dog,” Mars coach Bob Marcoux said of the Planets’ nine successive WPIAL championships. “This is the first title we’ve won wearing our blue uniforms.
“I knew this would be a tough one. South Fayette was undefeated and deserved the top seed. They gave us all we could handle.”
Mars took a 7-3 lead on Weaver's third goal with 9:52 left in the game. Drew Walhorsky and Max Joseph scored late goals for South Fayette, which also hit two goalposts in the second half.
The Lions trailed 6-3 at halftime and missed a chance to pull within two goals when Welhorsky whistled a shot through the goal crease 12 seconds into the second half. Weaver scored his third goal less than two minutes later.
“We hit a couple of pipes, missed a few scoring chances,” South Fayette coach Shawn Leydig said. “This was the closest score Mars had had in all of those championship runs. They have a great team and a great program.
“Hopefully, we’ll get another crack at them in a couple of weeks (in the PIAA tournament). This was a pretty even game.”
Blake Cote, Jack Tirch, Sean Brennan and Ben Bowser also scored for Mars, which knocked off South Fayette in the WPIAL final for the second straight year.
The Planets had a 15-13 edge in shots on goal. Mars netminder Luke Spreng had seven saves.
“This was a great game,” Marcoux said. “Luke was fantastic tonight. He was the difference in the game.”
As for the South Fayette shots that deflected off the goalposts, Spreng smiled and said: “A goalie’s best friend.”
“Our defense came up big. We played typical Mars defense tonight,” Spreng said. “Everyone thought this would be the year Mars would go down. They don’t believe in us because we lose prominent senior classes. But we proved them wrong.”
Weaver, who has approximately 30 goals on the season, was not surprised by the outcome Friday night.
“I have a lot of confidence in myself and always feel like I can score,” he said. “But our defense was clutch tonight. We needed them and they were there.”
Welhorsky scored three goals for South Fayette.
“There’s always some pressure on us in these (title) games because we don’t want the streak to end,” Weaver said. “This was a battle. We fought our way through this one.”
