How a loss forced Mars boys lacrosse to evolve and return to PIAA championship game
Mars boys lacrosse’s journey back to the PIAA Class 2A championship game began a year ago on a sweltering day in Mechanicsburg.
Hoping to reach the final for the fifth straight season, the Planets instead were knocked out in the quarterfinal round by Allentown Central Catholic. The Vikings scored five of the game's final six goals to earn a 15-10 victory.
“We just ran out of gas in that game,” Mars coach Bob Marcoux said. “We knew then that we had to change how we prepared our players for the season. We put in some true conditioning work in the fall and winter, but during the season we've focused more on speed drills.”
The Planets proved to be the better team in the second half of recent tight quarterfinal and semifinal wins over Upper Dublin (10-8) — on the same Mechanicsburg field the 2025 season ended — and Lampeter-Strasburg (9-6), respectively.
A revamped Mars (18-4), the District 7 champion, is now one win away from its second state title. Standing in its way is District 1 champ Penncrest (17-7). The teams will clash at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Penn State University's Panzer Stadium.
“Our guys are now built for this, and we told them that,” Marcoux said. “We tried to limit the wear and tear on their bodies during the season. Sometimes, less is more, and it's the understanding that simply playing lacrosse keeps a kid in shape.”
For much of the season, Mars used a two-goalie strategy with senior David Renner playing the first half of games and junior Luke Reinhart playing the second. Renner has minded the net full-time beginning with the team's win over South Fayette in the WPIAL final May 21.
“David was seeing the ball so clearly, and we decided to go with the hot hand,” Marcoux said. “But both are good goalies, and it's great to have so much confidence in two guys at that position.”
“My top priority was to get better, and I've put a lot of work in to do that,” said Renner.
Reinhart stays mentally ready in case he's called on to enter a game.
“I warm up as if I'm going to play,” he said. “I want to be in there, but we're winning and that's the most important thing. At the start of the season, nobody picked us to get this far. It's cool to be part of it.”
Mars will face a formidable Penncrest attack led by senior Aaron Goldstein, a Drexel University commit who became his school's all-time leading scorer this season. He tallied five goals and six assists in a quarterfinal win over Abington Heights.
Penncrest survived a five-overtime marathon in Tuesday's semifinal, defeating Twin Valley 9-8.
“That was crazy,” Marcoux said. “I've never seen five overtimes in a lacrosse game.”
Mars and Penncrest have met once before, with the Planets earning a 16-8 semifinal win in 2022. Four days later, they became the first team from Western Pennsylvania to win a state crown in lacrosse.
