Mars’ impressive run lays out plan for future success
Mars broke through and ended a 12-year drought by becoming the first WPIAL team regardless of gender or classification to play in a PIAA lacrosse championship match.
Unfortunately, it will be at least another year before the district has its first state champion.
Instead, it was District 11 and Allentown Central Catholic, which was also making its finals debut that brought home a 14-5 victory against the Planets to capture the PIAA Class 2A boys lacrosse championship Saturday at West Chester East’s Harold Zimmerman Stadium.
“It’s tough at this point to have too much of a perspective. We had some pretty upset kids on the bus, but certainly we’ve got a ton to be proud of,” Mars coach Bob Marcoux said. “We came a long way and the seniors, I’m really happy with the way they ended their careers. We saw, at this level, we’ve really got to play our best.”
Mars (22-1-0) did hold a 1-0 lead in the first quarter on a Nicholas Crowley goal at 4:35 and only trailed, 2-1, after the first quarter. But the Vikings attackers were able to find holes throughout the Planets defense and pelted goalkeeper Jacob Gareis with uncontested pinpoint shots that found the back of
the net with regularity.
When the dust settled, Allentown Central Catholic had ripped off a string of eight consecutive goals — six of which came in a second-quarter span of just 4:57 — that flipped the 1-0 lead into an 8-1 deficit from which the Planets could not crawl.
But Mars took home a lot more than a disappointing loss on the long ride home from Chester County. The Planets gained much-needed perspective that will help them when they try to make another run in 2022.
“We got a good sense for what it’s going to take to win a state title because the team we played is at a different level than any of the teams we played so far,” Marcoux said. “I think we now know what kind of competition we’re going to be going up against in these later rounds of states. It’s certainly a great experience and something we can build on.”
It may sound easy, but one area where Mars may look to help itself is in scheduling powerhouse opponents from the eastern part of the state.
The Planets could have played a maximum of 18 matches prior to the playoffs, but could only schedule 16 this year; one of the reasons being no one was certain there was going to be a season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
With the potential for two open slots on the slate next year, there is a very real possibility Mars may look to toughen up its non-WPIAL slate with a couple of opponents from outside the district.
“I don’t know if we could have faced another team like that because they were really, really good,” Marcoux said. “But we’re definitely looking at ways we can play some teams from maybe Ohio or Central Pa. teams and beef up our schedule a little bit. But I think this was kind of a unique situation because we knew how good they were and I don’t think there were many other teams that could have gotten us ready for this.”
Man, oh Manheim
Manheim Township has been a thorn in the side of WPIAL Class 3A girls teams ever since the PIAA started having lacrosse championship.
This year, though, the Blue Streaks jetted through a pair of WPIAL squads on the way to their third consecutive title match appearance — something it hadn’t done in 12 years.
Manheim Township rolled over WPIAL champion Shady Side Academy, 20-10, in the quarterfinals, then beat third-place qualifier Sewickley Academy, 18-8, in the semifinals.
This is nothing new. Manheim Township knocked off Shady Side Academy, 20-5, in the 2019 quarterfinals, dusted PineRichland, 16-9, in the opening round in 2017, beat Shady Side in the opening round of the 2015 tournament, 22-10, and ousted Mt.
Lebanon, 18-8, in 2010.
Just for good measure, Manheim Township started the whole thing with an 11-3 win against Mt. Lebanon in its first PIAA Class 3A playoff game in the inaugural 2009 postseason and followed it up with a second-round victory against Peters Township, 1310, the same year.
That’s an 8-0 record for the Blue Streaks against the WPIAL in the state tournament.
Usual suspects
While Mars and Allentown Central Catholic may have made a breakthrough for the WPIAL and District 11 in Class 2A boys lacrosse, there were no breakthroughs of that nature anywhere else to be found.
In Class 3A boys, Radnor won its first title since 2015 with a 10-2 victory against Kennett in an all-District 1 final. In the Class 2A girls championship, District 12 Archbishop Carroll took home its first crown since 2017 win a 14-6 rout of District 1 Strath Haven, while the Radnor girls sent Manheim Township home disappointed for the third consecutive playoff year with an 11-6 defeat.
Radnor did, however, become the first school ever to win both the boys and girls state lacrosse titles in the same year since the PIAA first recognized the sport in 2009.