The Mars hockey team won the first meeting this season with Plum, taking a three-goal victory in November in the home-and-home series between PIHL Class A Blue division rivals.
The Mustangs returned the favor in the rematch a month later with a shootout triumph, handing the tournament’s No. 1 seed a rare regular-season setback.
The teams clashed again Monday, and this time, it was win or go home with a date in the Penguins Cup semifinals on the line.
Planets senior forward Grant Weaver recorded his first hat trick of the season, and Mars used a three-goal first period to fuel a 4-1 win over Plum at the Baierl Toyota Ice Complex.
“The culture of wanting to win is just unreal right now, and that was important with the way we came out and played well,” said Weaver, who wore the team’s unofficial player-of-the-game hard hat for the third time this season.
“It’s always a good, physical game when Plum and Mars play. Plum is a very good team. They hit hard and skate fast. We just wanted to hit harder and skate faster, and I think we did that for a lot of the game. This was a great win to start the playoffs.”
Weaver now has 13 goals for the season, one that will continue for the Planets in the Penguins Cup semifinals March 11 at the RMU Island Sports Center against either Quaker Valley or Chartiers Valley. That quarterfinal game will be Thursday at Baierl at 9 p.m. Mars coach Cody Black is looking forward to doing a little scouting of both the Antelopes and Colts.
“We’ll definitely be watching,” Black said. “We’re also going to put the game plan together as we always do with some film and a team meeting where we will discuss the key points to this victory. Then we’ll see who we get and work to prepare. We know whoever comes through is going to be a very tough matchup. This is an exciting time for the guys.”
Mars (18-1-2) hadn’t played since a 10-1 win over Westmont Hilltop in its regular season finale Feb. 19.
Plum, which concludes its season at 11-7-3, won 12 of 13 to close the regular season before topping Blackhawk, 3-0, in a first-round game Feb. 23 for the program’s first playoff win since its Penguins Cup title in 2017.
Mustangs’ coach Jon Gratton said he was proud of his team despite falling short in Monday’s contest.
“We’ve built something special here, and you can’t fake the positive things that are going on in that locker room,” he said. “These guys care about each other and play the game the right way. Minus one guy, we’ve got them all coming back. To get to the mountain top, you have to feel some pain, and the guys are feeling a little pain right now. But they will soon be able to celebrate all the good things they accomplished in this season.”
Mars fired off a pair of shots in the first minute in its attempt to set the tempo.
The Planets then struck first with 12:16 left in the opening period.
Weaver moved into the Mustangs zone quickly and delivered a shot that got past Plum sophomore goaltender Brody Gribbin to give Mars a 1-0 lead.
The Planets added to their lead with 3:57 left in the opening period. Senior Xavier Bossola got the goal, his team-leading 19th of the season, off an assist from fellow senior Ethan Vactor.
Weaver then made it 3-0 with 1:53 left in the first as he delivered with a lethal wrister past Gribbin.
Plum didn’t get its first official shot on goal until there were 36 seconds left in the period. By that time, Mars had 11 shots. The Mustangs got a second shot with 10 seconds on the clock. Planets goaltender Carter Gallagher, who made 27 saves overall, pulled in both attempts to sustain his team’s three-goal advantage.
“Mars is a very good, highly offensive skilled team,” Gratton said. “It’s not a team you want to dig a hole to early. Unfortunately, we did. It was tough to come back. I don’t think it was necessarily anything we did wrong. They just capitalized on some opportunities quickly.”
Plum started the second period with a little more pep in its step offensively.
It then killed off the game’s first power play as Mars held a man advantage off of a cross-checking call against junior Colby Bartos.
The Mustangs went on the power play for the first time with 5:06 left in the second as Mars senior defenseman Jack Tirch went off on a holding call. The power play became a 5 on 3 for 1:16 when Planets senior forward Jack Weaver was whistled for a high stick.
But Mars turned the disadvantage into a scoring opportunity, and Grant Weaver again made a play. He stole the puck near center ice, raced in and scored past Gribbin to extend the Planets’ lead to 4-0.
“Grant has a motor that never stops, and he’s always looking to make that next play,” Black said. “He moves his feet as fast as possible in the forecheck. The hard work paid off in that situation. That was a huge sigh of relief.”
“We felt like we were tilting the ice in our favor,” Gratton said. “We felt that if we could’ve gotten the next one, it would open things up for us. We just got a little too aggressive on the 5 on 3 and paid the price.”
Plum, which outshot Mars 13-10 in the second period and 28-26 for the game, finally got on the board with 2:59 to go before the ice cut as junior forward Alex LeDonne scored his fourth of the season on the power play.
The Mustangs tried to rally in the third, but Gallagher and the Mars defense didn’t let up.
Gribbin stopped 22 Mars shots.
“It certainly doesn’t get any easier from here,” Black said. “Plum is very good. I said (before the quarterfinals) that any of the eight teams left could advance forward. There is so much talent in these teams. We’re happy that we’re one of the four moving on. Now, its anyone’s chance to win a Penguins Cup, and we want it to be ours.”