CANONSBURG — Sabrina Edwards smiled and had a look in her eyes that said almost as much as her lips.

It was a fire, and it served the Mars senior forward well this season and in the biggest match of it against Yough in the WPIAL Class AA semifinals at Canon-McMillan High School Monday night.

“I definitely didn't believe what people were saying, that we wouldn't be as good,” Edwards said.

With a lineup dotted with sophomores and only two seniors, Mars proved Edwards a prophet, scoring two quick goals in the first half and adding another for good measure in the second half for a 3-0 rout of previously unbeaten Yough that sent the Planets to the WPIAL final against Montour.

The final will be played Friday or Saturday at Highmark Stadium.

Appearing in the WPIAL final is not new for the Planets. Mars won the championship in 2010, 2011 and 2012, but didn't make it there last season.

This year, they are back.

“We have a different chemistry. We're not the same team we used to be,” said Mars coach Blair Gerlach. “But, we found the same destination.”

The Planets (18-3) got there on the backs of their captains.

Junior captain Dillon Wright scored off a perfect crossing pass in front of the goal from Tori Kopchak to put Mars up 1-0 nine minutes into the match.

Mars kept the pressure on and scored again on a nifty goal off the foot of Edwards, also a team captain, 15 minutes later for a 2-0 lead.

The third captain, senior Casey Merritt, put an exclamation point on the victory with a goal off a free kick with 3:45 remaining in the game.

“All they really want is to keep this run going for those two seniors,” Gerlach said. “When you have 10 seniors, it kind of gets lost. But when you only have two, it's noticeable. And they both scored a goal tonight, which was great.”

The Planets defense was also stout.

Yough controlled possession for large portions of the match, but mustered just four shots on goal, all stopped by Mars sophomore keeper Sammy Papik.

“I thought we did a nice job shutting down chances,” Gerlach said. “They kept the ball well, but I thought we did a very nice job. We never let them get behind us and there never was an 'uh oh' moment.”

Yough came in having not allowed a goal in the regular season on the way to a 15-0-2 mark. After winning its first playoff game, 3-0, the Cougars needed overtime to dispatch South Fayette, 3-2.

Mars scored more goals in one match than Yough had surrendered all season.

“We were definitely excited to score on them because we knew they hadn't been scored upon in their season,” Edwards said. “We took that as a challenge.”

Mars has been accepting challenges all year and received another one after a lackluster performance in a 1-0 overtime win over Central Valley.

“As a group, we knew we could have played better than that,” Edwards said. “I know, me personally, wanted to play better. We knew we all had it in us to come out and make sure this was a solid win and there were no questions about it.”

Gerlach was also pleased with how the Planets responded in the semifinals and during the season as a whole.

“I'm very proud of them,” Gerlach said. “I definitely feel like we overachieved a little bit.”

“I never thought this would happen,” Merritt said. “But everyone stepped up and did an excellent job. We're just going to try to see how far we can go.”

Where they are now is back in the WPIAL final with a spot to the PIAA Class AA playoffs secure.

“We're playing on Friday or Saturday for fun,” Gerlach said. “Hopefully something great happens and we'll see where we go from there.”