The Mars Fightin’ Planets beat Lampeter-Strasburg 9-6 in the PIAA state lacrosse semi-finals to advance to the State Championship game.
The teams battled through a defensive first quarter that ended scoreless before Lampeter-Strasburg took a 3-2 lead into halftime. Mars responded in the second half and entered the fourth quarter tied 5-5 before pulling away late to secure the 9-6 victory.
Senior midfielder Grant Weaver (#9) dealt out three assists, Junior Blake Cote (#20) and Freshman Nate Caldwell each chipped in a goal in the win.
The Fightin’ Planets had a solid performance defensively holding Lampeter-Strasburg, who had scored eleven goals against south Fayette in their previous game to only six goals.
Sophomore Carter Yocum (#23), senior Mike Duffy (#2), and junior Wyatt Wilson (#11) defensively frustrated the Lampeter-Strasburg shooters, while senior Chase Lamm (#10) and junior Mata Choffel (#7) played extremely well at LSM keeping their transition game at bay.
Mars LSM Choffel had a hard body check on the ‘Ride’ that caused a turnover and held the momentum of the game in the Planets’ favor.
Mars goalie David Renner (#1) came up big in the net again for Mars making five timely saves mostly on the doorstep.
With the victory, Mars advances to the PIAA Class 2A Championship Game against Penncrest on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at Panzer Stadium on the campus of Penn State University.
