Late header lifts Moon to win

A header from Moon’s Kylee Evans late in the match gave the Tigers a 3-2 win over Mars in the WPIAL Class 3A girls soccer championship.

Well, it was kind of a header, anyway.

“It went off my face, actually,” Evans explained.

The winning goal might not have been pretty, but Moon (220) extended its winning streak to 39 games in a row, including consecutive WPIAL titles. Both teams already earned a spot in the PIAA playoffs.

In the 76th minute, Emily Orr lofted a corner kick into the middle of the box.

“I went up and really wanted to score for that 3-2 win,” said Evans, a sophomore defender. “I just saw it at the right angle and went right for it.”

Mars (16-2) has won four WPIAL championships in the past eight seasons. The Planets, who have 13 shutouts this season, answered the first two times they conceded a goal before seeing their eight-game winning streak come to an end.

“For us to be able to come back twice against a team like Moon, who barely ever concedes any goals, shows a lot about our character and toughness,” Mars coach Blair Gerlach said.

Miami of Ohio recruit Delaney Snyder got Moon on the board first less than six minutes into the match when she knocked the ball into the back right corner of the net from the top of the box.

Mars answered a few minutes later when Caroline Wroblewski worked her way through the defense and got off a left-footed shot that soared past Madison Sleva.

Midway through the second half, Lauren Baumgartner lifted a pass to Abigael McEnroe, whose header gave the Tigers a 2-1 lead. Mars’ second goal was the result of a Moon miscue in front of the net when a backwards pass was intercepted by Taylor Hamlett, who tapped the ball into the net.

“We just kept going,” Evans said. “We didn’t think it was over yet. I trusted my team to get another goal.

Moon coach Bill Pfeifer said his squad’s experience helped to keep it together when Mars tied it up.

“The kids have been there before,” Pfeifer saod. “They didn’t panic, they just kept playing.”

Snyder, who netted her 45th goal of the season, was forced to work every time she touched the ball. Freshman Gracie Dunaway was on her hip the entire game.

“It’s kind of an impossible task with a special player like that to ask anybody to do it by themselves,” Gerlach said.