Mars' attack mode produces 6-0 win
ADAMS TWP — There was no way Mars girls soccer coach Blair Gerlach could keep junior Annabel Hnath on the backline.
She's too active.
Hnath scored a goal and set up Tori Kopchak for another during the Planets' 6-0 Section 2-AA win Monday night at the Mars Athletic Complex.
“Her pace is great,” Planets coach Blair Gerlach said. “She gets on the end of things and she's scrappy, earns fouls and finds a way to get on the back post when balls are played to her. Having a busy kid like that is hard to keep in the back.”
Hnath, who has played forward before in club soccer, had played primarily on defense before she was moved up earlier this season.
“About two weeks ago he started playing me up more on a regular basis,” Hnath said. “(Erin) Posey and (Tori) Kopchak have helped me a lot getting combinations and through balls in.”
Hnath gives Mars another option on a dynamic offense that scored in a variety of ways against the Yellowjackets (8-4, 7-3).
Shannon Doyle scored on a penalty kick to put the Planets ahead 1-0 with 17 minutes, 42 seconds left before halftime.
Hnath scored a minute later by burying a pass from Tori Kopchak.
Kopchak and Posey added goals to put Mars (12-2, 9-0) ahead 4-0 at halftime.
“I feel like we are much less predictable,” Gerlach said. “We are scoring on services, we are serving on set pieces and regular run of play. We're getting behind people, but when they drop off we are able to break people down.”
Kopchak added a second goal after halftime and Lilli Marcoux also scored for Mars.
Freeport coach Brittni Grenninger tried to treat this like a playoff game. She didn't have her team sit back and try to defend.
“You want to put yourselves in position you can end up in,” Grenninger said. “Last year, we got the Montour draw and this game is similar to what we may see in the first round. We played to try and make it a soccer game. We didn't want to pack the box and play to a tie.”
Freeport's best scoring chances came after halftime.
Cameron Lindsay hit a free kick from 25 yards out that Mars goalkeeper Sydney Edwards jumped and snared at the crossbar.
Edwards also was forced to come out and slide tackle the ball away from Lindsay a few minutes later, resulting in a collision between the two.
Yellowjackets goalie Cassie Suran kept things close early.
Suran, who made five stops, made diving efforts on shots from Erin Posey in the 15th and 17th minutes, respectively.
Mars kept attacking.
The Planets drew a penalty kick following an aggressive challenge and Doyle pushed the penalty kick toward the post and past Suran.
“We kept our passes and speed up,” Hnath said. “We got shots on runs to the back post.”