WARRENDALE — Forget the first period. Remember the rest.

Mars hockey is alive and well going into the PIHL Class A playoffs.

The Planets (20-2-0) received two goals each from Elliot Tisdale and Austin Heakins Friday night on their way to a 9-2 victory over outmanned South Park at BladeRunners.

Mars won its seventh straight game while the Eagles (3-19-0) dropped their 11th in a row as both teams ended the regular season.

"We didn't show up in the first period," Mars coach Steve Meyers said. "Our guys were thinking about the playoffs too much.

"I'd be concerned if we didn't get our act together over the final two periods, but we did," the coach added. "We played great, but their goalie was incredible."

South Park senior goaltender Katie Vaughan stopped 53 of 62 shots, many from point-blank range.

"She's faced more than 900 shots this year," South Park coach Clarence Hawk said. "We're going to miss Katie. She stood in there all year under very trying circumstances."

Vaughan played all but one of South Park's games and faced an average of 44 shots per game. Her goals-against average was 6.99.

The Eagles entered the game having been shut out seven times in their last eight games. But at the end of the first period Friday, they trailed Mars only 3-2.

Meyers started backup goalie Walker Enstad, who was lifted after allowing two goals on five first-period shots. Enstad entered the game with a 2.94 goals against average over three games.

Regular goalie Tyler Stepke (1.41 GAA) finished up for the Planets and stopped all five shots he faced over the final two periods.

Mars enjoyed a 62-10 edge in shots on goal.

"We only had 10 skaters and we knew we'd wear down eventually," Hawk said. "There's been games we've had only seven skaters and a goalie.

"For a period, we skated right with the best team in Class A. That is very uplifting for our kids," he added.

Tisdale scored both of his goals in the first period for Mars, giving him 20 tallies on the season. He scored just 11 seconds into the game, successfully completing a 2-on-1 break with Mike Mazzotta.

Russell Miller netted his 11th goal of the year, giving Mars a 2-0 lead barely five minutes into the contest.

But Reno Baum scored his first goal of the season for South Park and R.J. Brecosky scored his team-leading 12th with 12 seconds left in the period.

"We needed to wake up and we did," Meyers said.

The Planets' first three goals of the second period came on wide-open rebounds against the beleaguered Vaughan. Heakins scored two of them and Robert Sigurddson one.

Blake Friday's 13th goal of the campaign, set up by a 360-degree spin and pass by Sigurdsson, gave Mars a 7-2 lead through two periods.

Greg Makozy and Eric Attanucci added third-period goals for the winners.

The PIHL playoff meeting is this weekend and Mars figures to be the No. 1 seed in Class A. The defending Penguins Cup champions share the best record in Class A with Kittanning, but the Planets won 6-2 in the teams' lone head-to-head matchup.

Mars has outscored its opposition 65-8 during its current seven-game win streak.

"We're going into the playoffs with three solid lines," Meyers said. "Tyler Thomas (nine goals, 17 assists) is our third-line center and he'd be the No. 1 center on a lot of other teams."

Mazzotta (15 goals, 21 assists) and Sigurdsson (14 goals, 17 assists) are the Planets' first two centers. Mars has nine players with at least nine goals.

"The Penguins Cup eluded the Mars program for a number of years," Meyers said. "Now that we finally won it, the kids love being the hunted. They're relishing that role."