Planets come up short
PITTSBURGH — Mars girls sophomore midfielder Tori Kopchak wished things could have went a little better.
Missed opportunities and some misfortune cost the Planets during a 3-1 loss to Montour in the WPIAL Class AA girls soccer title game Saturday at Highmark Stadium.
“Losing this was kind of a disappointment for us,” Kopchak said. “We know we can win the next one so we're going to try really hard.”
Mars (18-4) will play District 9 champion Clearfield in the first round of the PIAA playoffs Tuesday. Fifth-seeded Montour (20-2) had never won a district playoff game before this season.
“I tell you the truth, words can't describe it,” Montour coach Lee Coughenour said. “I see on TV when they say 'How does it feel?' It's really indescribable, it is.”
The loss was the first loss for second-seeded Mars against a Class AA opponent this season. Planets coach Blair Gerlach thinks his group will be able to refocus.
“We've lost games before,” Gerlach said. “We practice (Sunday) and get better.”
Mars, which was seeking its fourth district title in five years, struggled to keep up with the wind in the first half. Samantha White took advantage five minutes in for Montour, hitting a free kick from 45 yards out that skidded past Planets keeper Sam Papik.
“I told them from the beginning, play our game,” Coughenour said. “Play Montour soccer and good things will happen.”
The Spartans scored twice more on restarts before halftime. Cassandra Schiffhauer headed in a free kick that bounced off the crossbar with 4 minutes, 21 seconds left in the first half. Kemper Foster then bent a corner kick into the net 43 seconds later to put Montour ahead 3-0 at halftime.
“We were anticipating difficulty with the wind,” Gerlach said. “It was a tale of two halves. In the first half, they get a couple of free kicks from 45 yards that we mishandled. … To be fair, I think all four of those goals – three for them and one for us – should have been saves.”
The Planets were limited to one shot in the first half. After halftime, Kopchak and Casey Merritt both had shots from inside the box that were stopped by Montour's Aryana Jones.
Mars finished with five shots on goal.
“The first half was sort of try to survive and make it through the wind,” Gerlach said. “Get the ball on the ground, play to feet and see if we can combination and attack. … At least we came out, showed some pride and played in the second half.”
Mars broke through when Kopchak hit a cross that Sabrina Edwards finished with 30:47 remaining. Merritt had a shot inside the box that got stopped and Erin Posey just missed connecting with a sliding chance with a minute remaining.
Kopchak's ready to get back to work on the next round.
“We're definitely going to work on restarts because that's how the goals were scored,” Kopchak said. “We're going to keep practicing and get better.”
