Mars, Seneca Valley in semi's with WPIAL soccer shutouts
MOUNT LEBANON — Payback?
Not on this day.
On Sept. 5, the Mars boys soccer team defeated Southmoreland, 4-0.
The Scotties' play in the first half Saturday may have had some people thinking the team would get revenge, but in the end, the result was exactly the same.
Mars tallied multiple scores in the second half to turn a scoreless tie into a 4-0 rout in a WPIAL Class AA quarterfinal playoff at Mount Lebanon Stadium.
Prior to the Planets' win, Seneca Valley's girls dropped Southmoreland in a Class AAA quarterfinal by a score of 2-0.
Saturday's boys game proved very similar to Mars' 4-0, first-round win over Indiana last Monday in which the score was also 0-0 at halftime.
With the victory, Mars (19-1) will face Chartiers Valley, a 4-3 winner over Beaver, in the semifinals at 7:45 p.m. Tuesday at North Allegheny's Newman Stadium.
"Our lineup stayed the same in the second half (Saturday), said Mars coach Chris Knauff. "We just told our guys to settle down and play the way they're capable of playing.
"Once we got that first goal, things really seemed to open up for us," he added.
That first score came courtesy of junior midfielder Yulian Lutsiv in the 46th minute of play.
Lutsiv would add another goal and an assist, as seniors Ryan McKenzie and Christopher Karns scored as well, the latter closing out the scoring in the 78th minute of play.
The Scotties (14-4-1) had the better offensive push early, but were unable to break the tie.
"We actually thought this game would be tougher than the first time we played them," said Mars senior defender Jack Leslie. "We got better since then, but so did (Southmoreland).
"We weren't possessing in the first half like we're capable of," he added. "That's what we focused on in the second half and things worked out for us."
Meanwhile, the scoring opportunities that went for naught for the Scotties in the first 40 minutes became few and far between following intermission.
"We thought we learned something from the first game," said Southmoreland coach Marvin Stoner. "We had the better of the play in the first half (Saturday), but made no adjustments at halftime.
"Mars came out strong in the second half and that was the difference in the game," the coach added.
Mars junior goalkeeper Robbie Sigurdsson stopped six shots in the shutout win, while Jeremy Hixon had eight saves for the Scotties.
The Southmoreland girls soccer team entered the WPIAL Class AAA quarterfinals having not lost a game in nearly two months.After running into Seneca Valley on Saturday, that streak is now history.Melissa Lynskey scored a goal just before halftime as the Raiders sent the Scotties packing with a 2-0 decision on a wet and windy day at Mount Lebanon Stadium.The Scotties' only other defeat this season came against Mars on Sept. 5.SV (19-0-1) will face Canon-McMillan, a 2-1 winner over Penn-Trafford, in the semifinals Wednesday at a time and site to be determined.Southmoreland (14-2-2) focused all of its attention on playing defense in the first half, and until Lynskey's score in the 40th minute of play, the Scotties were successful.SV senior forward Kate Kelly gained possession before breaking through two Southmoreland defenders, at which point Scotties goalkeeper, Shelby Hawkins came out in an attempt to thwart the scoring chance.The ball ricocheted off of the netminder and sailed back to Lynskey, who let a shot go 25 yards from the net.Hawkins was still out of position and was unable to make a play on the ball."Southmoreland had all 11 players back on defense and we kind of expected that," said Raiders' coach Dave Sylvester. "We knew we had a little more talent and speed. We figured they'd try and play defense and attempt to get a breakout goal along the way."The Scotties were without their top scorer, Andrea Wisniewski, who was out with an MCL injury, but coach Brian Shrum knows SV was the better team."We played a good team today and you have to give them credit," he said. "We wanted to keep everything in front of us in the first half, then change things up on offense in the second half, but it didn't work out for us."We wish Seneca Valley well," he added. "Hopefully, (by winning the WPIAL title), they can drag us into the state playoffs."Seneca Valley senior Mandy Cerminara added a goal in the 68th minute to give SV the two-goal margin it would win by.Raiders' goalkeeper Keara Lydon, made a pair of saves in the victory, while Hawkins had nine stops."It took us a while to adjust to the turf here," said Sylvester. "It's the old style turf and the ball moves very fast on it."With Saturday's win, the Raiders are guaranteed a spot in the state playoffs, which begin Nov. 10.
