Persistence pays
PINE TWP — When scoring chances are turning into near-misses, persistence can easily give way to frustration for a soccer team.
Mars' boys were headed in that direction.
Throughout the first 35 minutes of their WPIAL Class AA first-round playoff against Burrell Monday night, the Planets had three corner kicks and 10 throw-ins near the Bucs' net.
But each time, Mars was unable to find the net. Some of the chances missed the net completely and Bucs' goalkeeper Alex White made four saves to keep the game scoreless.
Then, with just over five minutes left in the half, Ryan Kissinger took a corner kick to the left of Burrell's net and senior forward Ryan Gralish headed in the game's lone goal in a 1-0 win at Pine-Richland Stadium.
Just moments before the score, Kissinger and Gralish teamed up on a corner kick, but the latter's header sailed over the crossbar.
“We were getting a bit frustrated,” said Gralish, “but we knew that if we kept getting shots, we'd score eventually.”
Mars (14-3-2) will face South Park (17-1-1), a 7-0 winner over Elizabeth-Forward, in a quarterfinal game Thursday at a site and time to be determined.
Burrell controlled play for a four-minute span early in the second half, during which the Bucs (12-3-2) managed two corner kicks and three throw-ins deep in the Planets' zone.
But the Planets grabbed back the momentum and, though they did not score another goal the rest of the game, forced much of the play into Burrell's end of the field.
“Burrell kept getting corners and throws,” said Mars coach Chris Knauff. “We finally started playing the ball to our midfielder and that's when we were able to get out of that.”“We're a second-half team,” said Burrell coach T.J. Trozzi. “We scored most of our goals in the second half this year. Unfortunately, we couldn't get a goal tonight to tie the game.”Matt White, Nick Martinelli, Spencer Posey and Gralish each had good scoring chances in the final 20 minutes.“We made some bad passes earlier in the second half,” Gralish said. “Then, everything seemed to come together for us and we just outplayed them.”Knauff was satisfied with the win, but knows his team will have to capitalize on more opportunities starting Thursday.“We played well tonight, but just didn't finish,” he said.Mars goalkeeper Garrett Gabriel made five saves, while White made six for Burrell.
