UNIVERSITY PARK —The Mars boys lacrosse team's offense entered the PIAA quarterfinal round riding high.

An 11-game winning streak was fueled largely by an average of 19 goals per contest.

Against District 3 champion Hershey Saturday afternoon, the Planets showed flashes of their offensive prowess, but not nearly often enough in a 13-8 loss to the Trojans at Penn State University's Panzer Stadium.

“We weren't our normal selves with ground balls and there wasn't as much movement on offense as we are used to,” said Mars coach Bob Marcoux. “But Hershey is a really good defensive team and they defended us well.”

Despite trailing 7-5 at halftime, the Planets had more time with possession during the first two quarters.

Hershey began to turn the tables in that regard as the third quarter began.

The Trojans received goals from Nick Rizzo, Mark Sickler and Colin Kondracki in the first six minutes of the second half to push their team's lead to 10-5.

Mars managed just six shots in the period and only one of them — from senior Mike Doyle with 2:41 left — found the net.

Sickler scored again with just five seconds remaining, handing Hershey an 11-6 lead. Mars never cut its deficit to less than four goals over the final 12 minutes.

Mars' offense featured Mike Doyle, who had scored over 100 goals this season alone, and a formidable second option in Chris Sicher.

Hershey coach John Schein's plan to defend the duo asked a lot from his defense.

“We told our guys that against (Doyle), they had to be three steps quicker than they are used to playing ... and don't come off (Sicher),” he said.

The Trojans executed the plan well enough. Doyle scored a team-high five goals, but only two in the second half when the Planets were desperately trying to regain momentum. Sicher was held scoreless until he scored the game's final goal with 17 seconds left.

“We started pressing a bit in the second half,” said Marcoux. “We were rushing our shots because we needed to score.”

The momentum was much more balanced between the teams early on.

Doyle's first two goals gave Mars first-quarter leads of 1-0 and 2-1.

Garrett Reinke, Doyle and Wes Scurci each scored to help Mars manage a stalemate of 5-5 early in the second period, but Hershey then began to slowly take momentum away and the Planets never recovered.

Mars goalie Gavin Honeycutt stood tall, making six of his 10 saves in the second period, but the Trojans entered halftime with the lead thanks to goals from Jay Rodriguez and Kondracki.

Kondracki led Hershey with five goals.

“He was a role player last year for us,” explained Schein, “but Sickler was ill for a few games this year and Colin stepped up.”

Hershey goalie Brady Bowman contributed 12 saves to the win.

Hershey (18-5) will face Strath Haven, which defeated Hampton, in a semifinal on Tuesday.

“We didn't get a chance to play for our conference title,” said Schein. “Our guys decided to keep fighting for something else.

“Getting to the final four is a bit of a surprise for me just because we have not been healthy. We were a bit sloppy today, but the gameplan held.”

Due to its first-round game being postponed three times, Mars (19-4) was forced to play on back-to-back days.

The Planets defeated District 3's Trinity, 22-12, on Friday.

“It's no excuse. You still have to go out and play,” said Reinke. “At the start of (Saturday's) game, I felt pretty good.

“We were prepared, but just didn't execute like we needed to.”

A senior, Reinke is among several players to contribute to four straight district titles for the Planets.

“I'm most impressed with what we did this year,” he said. “We had a lot of freshmen playing and for them to play in a game this big, that's important for them. I'm proud of them.”

Marcoux said the senior leadership his team is losing to graduation will be difficult to replace.

“They came into this season in the shadow of last year's seniors,” he said, “but they were determined to leave their own mark. They were tenacious leaders both in practice and in games.”