Mars trades punches with 3A power Mt. Lebo in 13-11 loss
ADAMS TWP — No team looks forward to walking off the field with a loss, but the one sustained by the Mars girls lacrosse team Thursday night could end up helping it in the long run.
The Planets managed several rallies against WPIAL Class 3A power Mt. Lebanon, but after cutting their deficit to 13-11 with Anna Bowser’s goal with three minutes, 57 seconds left in the game, watched the Blue Devils maintain possession to drain the clock at the Mars Athletic Complex.
The two-goal loss was just the second defeat of the season for Mars (10-2), the defending WPIAL Class 2A champion. In their quest to repeat, the Planets have two more regular-season games against stiff 3A competition — against Seneca Valley and defending 3A champ Shady Side Academy next week.
“We want to play the good teams to get us ready for the playoffs,” said first-year coach Abby Zorrilla.
Mars held one lead in the game — Lydia Toparli’s tally put it up 4-3 with 11:44 remaining in the first half. It was the fourth consecutive goal for the Planets after they fell behind 3-0 to open the game.
But the Blue Devils (11-1) owned five of the half’s final seven goals, including one from sophomore midfielder Addie Murdoch that put Mt. Lebanon up 8-6 with just 10 seconds left before halftime.
“Mars is a good team and we knew they would make some runs,” said Mt. Lebanon coach Brian Kattan. “We just had to calm down and work through them.”
Toparli began Mars’ final spurt when she scored to cut the deficit to 11-8 with 14:10 on the clock. Zoey Krock and Charlotte Stamper joined Bowser in finding the net late against Mt. Lebanon goalie Addie Donalson, but Reagan Murdoch, who led all scorers with five goals, scored her final two of the night to keep Mars at bay.
Sisters Reagan and Addie Murdoch, a senior and sophomore respectively, combined for nine of the Blue Devils’ goals.
“They’re two of the best players we’ve ever had here, not just with their talent, but they are strong mentally as well,” said Kattan, whose team reached the WPIAL 3A final last year before falling to Shady Side Academy. “I think we’re a stronger team this year just from an experience standpoint. Last year, we had a lot of freshmen and sophomores who had never played at the varsity level because the 2020 season was lot to COVID.”
Krock and Kellen Fletcher both scored three times to lead Mars. Amber O’Neal started in goal for the Planets and made six saves. Ella Roach played the final 10-plus minutes of the game and stopped two shots.
“Tonight came down to the little things,” said Zorrilla, “but it was a good game. We’re at our best when we play as a unit.
“We want there to be the expectation that we can hang with and beat the good teams.”
