PIAA boys lacrosse: Mars barrage buries Hershey as Planets advance to Class 2A quarterfinals
ADAMS TWP — Being ahead midway through wasn’t anything new for Mars boys lacrosse.
What it had just experienced prior in its 19-3 PIAA Class 2A first-round boys lacrosse win over Hershey, though, was something almost entirely strange.
“Halftime, it was a little weird,” Planets senior and all-time leading scorer Enzo Grieco admitted. “We were definitely not happy with the way we were playing. We just kind of focused and really tried to be better in the second half and it ended up working in our favor.”
Mars (18-3) owned a 6-3 advantage entering the third frame. At one point in the preceding quarter, it went over 10 minutes without adding onto the scoreboard, going quiet after Jack McKenzie’s goal with just 14 ticks gone in the second.
Seven Planet tries failed to find the back of the net, then a Ryan Blake assist helped Grieco put a stop to the drought with 1:53 to go before the teams regrouped. Mars coach Bob Marcoux thought for a moment how long it had been since his cast had waited so long to break through — at any point in a game.
“A long time,” he settled on with a laugh. “I don’t think we keep that stat, but it’s probably been a while.”
Ryan Grace scored his second for the Trojans (15-7) before the opening 24 minutes were over. The Planets headed into the intermission with a 15-7 edge in shots on target, but were irked by what hadn’t gotten past Hershey’s Eli Cohen.
“We were a little bit upset with our execution,” Marcoux said. “We didn’t think we really executed our offense as well as we could. They did a really good job of pressing out on us and making us throw the passing lanes a little bit tougher than we normally see. But we should’ve been able to adjust.
“We talked to them a little bit at halftime about being a little bit more patient and making sure that we were a little bit more aggressive off-ball.”
Blake, Grieco, Dylan Phillips, Henry Saver, Ian Coulter, and Jack Tirch each deposited at least one in a third-quarter outburst. Mars logged as many shots on goal in those dozen minutes as they had the entire first half.
“We just didn’t have the ability to stay with them at full speed in the second half,” said Trojans coach John Schein, whose side had just two shots on goal in that time frame. “Our legs started getting tired. ... They’re a really great team. They’re really fast. If you can’t stay with them, the easy goals in transition are going to come.
“That’s what happened to us in the second half.”
Ben Bowser tacked on a pair in the fourth and Saver and Tirch another each for good measure.
“It all starts with Jack McKenzie winning face-offs,” Marcoux said. “We did a good job of getting possessions. I thought we rode the ball pretty well, so in the few instances where we did throw it away, we got it back.
“We just played our game in the second half. We ran a little harder, played a little bit more focused, and I think got the jitters out of the way.”
Grieco finished with a game-high six goals. Blake, Coulter, Bowser, Saver, and Tirch all had two. Cole Yoshioka also netted one. Sean Brennan, Grant Weaver, Phillips, Blake, Tirch, and Bowser all had at least one helper, as well.
In the quarterfinals on Saturday, the Planets will clash with District 12 champion Devon Prep, a 12-9 winner over Twin Valley. The time and location for that matchup are yet to be decided.
