End of the line
WEST VIEW — Shaler provided a glimpse of what Shannon Doyle hopes the Mars girls lacrosse program can grow into.
A dominant and overwhelming force.
For now, the Mars sophomore is happy to reflect on the Planets' inaugural season that ended in an 18-7 loss in the WPIAL Division II semifinals to the defending champion Titans Tuesday night at Martorelli Stadium.
“I'm so proud of everyone. It's unbelievable how far we went and how well we did,” said Doyle, who had an assist. “I didn't expect half of what happened and what came out of it. It was awesome.”
Mars (14-5) finished second in the section to Shaler and beat Latrobe in the first round of the playoffs.
The Titans (17-1) beat the Planets twice during the regular season, 17-5 and 17-7.
“We knew that it had been tough competition before,” Doyle said. “We just tried to get our confidence up, start strong and see where it goes from there.”
Shaler, which will play Chartiers Valley in the championship game Thursday at Highmark Stadium, never let Mars develop any confidence. The Titans scored the first five goals, including two in the first five minutes.
Shannon Lynch, who scored a game-high seven goals, corralled a rebound and found the back of the net to put Shaler up 2-0 1 minute, 50 seconds into the game.
“We were ready for it. Our offense was doing a great job,” Shaler coach Jen Perestock said. “We definitely had a lot of fouls on us tonight. They kept it together and did a nice job.”
The Titans also showed off their balance on offense. Neely Ragen (five goals) and McKenna Ash (three) opened up space for Lynch.
“Shaler can work the ball well with each other and they are a talented team,” Mars sophomore Kelly O'Connell said. “We knew it was going to be tough to play them. We put our confidence forward and tried to just keep our heads up throughout the whole game.”
Bella Alampi, who finished with a team-high four goals for Mars, scored with 16:38 left in the first half to cut the deficit to 5-1.
Shaler shook that off and built its lead to 13-2 by halftime. The Titans were able to get good scoring opportunities with good passing.
“They stick-handled the ball well,” Mars coach Rich Schoeffel said. “They knew where to go to get shots.”
Tori Kopchak, Lilli Marcoux and O'Connell also scored for the Planets. Marcoux and Kopchak scored goals back-to-back after halftime to narrow the lead to 13-4.
Mars wouldn't get any closer as Shaler responded with three more goals before Alampi scored with 8:48 remaining.
The Planets were happy with their first season. They just hope to switch places with Shaler next season.
“I think we did great this year, considering it was our first year as a team,” O'Connell said. “We learned what was better with working the ball on attack and what was better for defense.”
