Planets on the rise
WARRENDALE — There are four first-place teams in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League's Class A division, and Mars is one of them.
But the Planets are quickly separating themselves from the pack.
Mars (7-0) remained perfect as five different players scored goals in a 5-2 victory over Section 1 leader Quaker Valley Tuesday night at BladeRunners Ice Arena.
The Planets' previous game was a 3-0 win Nov. 20 over Serra Catholic, which was atop Section 3 entering Tuesday night.
"I believe Quaker Valley was undefeated last season and they had a lot of players back from that team," said Mars coach Tim Coleman. "They're big, physical and they have a lot of speed. This is by far the best game we've played."
The Quakers (6-2) struck first when Colin South netted his 11th goal of the season with 4:44 remaining in the first period.
It was the first time this season the Planets found themselves behind on the scoreboard, but Coleman liked the way his team responded.
<table width="300" height="275" border="0" align="right" valign="top" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><embed src="/assets/mov/BE334721128.MOV" width="320" height="250" autostart="true" loop="false" ></embed></td></tr><tr><td align="center"><a href="http://www.apple.com/quicktime/" target="_blank"><span class="style11">Requires Quicktime Media Player </a><br><font size="1" face="Tahoma, Times New Roman">Video by Brandon Gerthoffer</font></span><td></tr></table>Mars received second-period goals from Ian Finney, Michael Heltman and Tyler Whiteford — all coming in a span of 10 minutes, 14 seconds.Heltman's goal was a shorthanded score, as the Planets were 32 seconds into killing an interference penalty."I just told the team that we had to keep focused," Coleman said. "We had to buckle down in the second period, and we did."Quaker Valley coach Kevin Quinn didn't like the effort he saw from his team when Mars tied the game in the second period, then went ahead by two goals."We were outshooting (Mars) and outplaying them," he said. "And then we just went into a lapse on a few plays."We gave them a few opportunities," he added. "Anything can happen when you put the puck to the net, and that certainly happened tonight."The Quakers fought back with a goal less than three minutes into the final period when Leland Drake beat Mars goalkeeper Greg Lewis to cut the Planets' lead to 3-2.But Mars held QV scoreless the rest of the way and received a goal from Ryan Magdenic at 9:58 and a power-play goal from Brady Sipe that made the score 5-2 with 3:58 remaining."I loved it," Coleman said of his team's balanced scoring. "We were just talking about that in the locker room. Everyone on this team has a role and we count on everybody."Lewis ended the game with 22 saves and has now stopped 66 of the 68 shots he's faced this year.QV's Zack Taylor made 21 saves.<B>Notes:</B> Tallying assists for Mars were Michael Mazzotta and Steven Tracy (2). ... The Planets will hit the road Friday to take on Sewickley Academy. ... Highlights of Mars' win over Quaker Valley can be seen at www.butlereagle.com
